A Child's Attachment
by Music-Kingdom-Sings
Summary: Sequel to Hating You. After deciding to have children, Shizuo and Izaya finally have two beautiful boys, but problems arise because of their eldest son's attachment to his mother and his possible resentment of his father. Multiple POVs. Shizaya.
1. Shiro and Kuro

I decided to make this a mini sequel series. I mean...hopefully it doesn't turn out to be so long, but sometimes I go overboard. Anyway, I decided to make this a series because my brain wouldn't leave me alone; I've had this idea brewing since yesterday. If you guys could tell me if this is a good start or not. That would be awesome ^^ Just a couple notes before we begin.

**Notes**: Chapter sizes will vary. There will be Multiple POVs throughout this series. I rated this "T" just to be safe. Shizuo has a cursing problem so yeah XD Lastly, I sped up to when they already had kids because it was troublesome for my brain to create a storyline for that type of story. I'm sorry if this disappoints people. Anyway, please enjoy and review!

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When I was younger my mother had taught me the small lessons of what it meant to be a parent and I've got to say that it's probably the hardest job in the world. I deal with a bunch of bastards every day at work. When I was younger there were jerks that came out of nowhere who'd pick fights with me; that doesn't happen anymore, at least not when I'm with my children. Everyone in Ikebukuro knows me as the strongest man, Shizuo Heiwajima and then they know my husband, Izaya Heiwajima as the best information broker.

But they also know our two kids, Shiro and Kuro Heiwajima. Shiro is our eldest son; he just turned five. Kuro is obviously the youngest; he's four. To me and Izaya, they're our world. I'm sure almost every parent feels like that about their children. If they don't then I really question their humanity. Well, that's just my opinion because I'm very attached to my children. Shiro is more attached to his mother than he is to me whereas Kuro prefers me over Izaya. It's strange, but Izaya and I aren't too concerned about it.

"Shiro, what has your mother told you about picking up your toys?" I ask my eldest son as I try to swim through the ocean of assorted toys—broken, new, old, big and small. I sigh as I start to pick up some of the toys to clear a path. Shiro looks up at me with the same mocha colored eyes as me and hums. He's not much of a talker.

"When is mom coming home…?" He asks shyly.

"Ah…well he's kind of busy with a bunch of appointments today, but I'll be around here to take care of you and Kuro since I'm off work today."

"I want mom…" Shiro says as he walks to the couch and buries himself in the sofa cushions. He usually builds some sort of a fort, but the last time he did Kuro tore it apart since he wouldn't make room for him. Ever since then, he hasn't made another one.

"What, you don't like daddy?" I ask as I sit next to him on the couch.

"No." He says simply. I flinch from surprise and then scratch the back of my neck nervously. "Can I call him?" He asks me as he emerges from underneath the pillows and looks at me dully. He kind of reminds me of Kasuka when he looks at me with this emotionless expression. I only see him making different expressions at Izaya, which irks me, but I'm not extremely mad.

"He's really busy, Shiro." I repeat as relax and turn on the TV. Suddenly, Kuro comes in and tackles me, jumping into my lap—not even realizing that he accidently hit me in the nuts. "H-hello…Shiro…" I say as I try to power through the pain in my groin.

"Daddy, can you play with me?" Kuro asks happily as he shows me his new plane his mother bought him at the toy store.

"Why don't you play with your brother this time? Don't you guys usually play together anyway?"

"Yeah, but, but daddy's been working late now. We hardly get to play." Kuro says sadly. I look at him with a smile and ruffle his hair. He looks a lot like Izaya every time I look at him. He has Izaya's facial features and reddish-brownish eyes, but he has my original brown hair. Shiro looks more like me, but his hair is black like Izaya's. Shiro is the strong one like me, but Kuro is an easier crier like Izaya used to be. I'm not sure where Shiro got his reserved nature, but I'm guessing from his uncle Kasuka, whom he adores a lot too. He watches all his movies. Kuro doesn't really like Kasuka too much. He always hides when he comes over and always informs me that the "statue faced man" is here. I haven't told Kasuka yet.

Kuro on the other hand is livelier, bubblier. He plays tricks sometimes, but not severe ones. He's a handful more so than his older brother, which is why after we had Kuro we decided that two was enough. Izaya originally wanted four, but he said that he didn't want to make Kuro feel confined or lonely, since more kids would be less attention to any one in particular. Kuro is an attention hog, so he'd probably fight with his younger brothers or sisters if we did have more.

Kuro takes my hand and leads me into his room. He tells me that he wants to play baseball at the park so I grab his equipment and then grab my sunglasses.

"Shiro, let's go to the park so we can play ball." I say as I shake him. He groans and talks to me, but his words are muffled since he buried his face in pillows again. I uncover him and pick him up. "I can't hear you, buddy." I say as I swing him over my shoulder.

"I don't wanna go!" He whines as he starts kicking. "I wanna be here when mom comes back."

"Shiro, don't be like that. Come on, mom isn't gonna be home until dinner time. Let's go to the park." I say as I carry him to the door. I take his jacket for if it gets chilly later and then tell Kuro to take his. "I'll buy you both an ice cream cone when we get there, okay?"

"…Okay…" He finally says as he clings onto me so he doesn't fall. Shiro isn't much of a crier, but he'll whine for his mother. He's too attached to him, I swear. Kuro is plenty attached to me, but not in the same intensity as Shiro is attached to his mother. Izaya says it's because when Shiro was little I wasn't around too much as I was with Kuro. When Shiro was little I had started working long hours because I had gotten another job working late as a bartender (again). I quit that job a few years ago, after Kuro was born. Tom pays well, but at the time before Shiro was born, I really needed the money since Izaya was off work because of maternity leave. Then after he was born, I still had to keep the job because Izaya really wanted to stay home with Shiro. Since Shiro was our first child, Izaya really wanted to stay home. He was really emotional about it too.

And then when Kuro was born Izaya worked couple days afterwards and I stayed home most of the time. It wasn't that Izaya didn't care about Kuro, but he felt really bad for making me work all those hours. He's really changed since we had the kids.

"Hi! Hi! Hi!" Kuro repeats as we pass people on the streets. I laugh inwardly as people start smiling and waving at my youngest son. Thankfully, both of them don't wander off. They hold onto my hands obediently. "Daddy, can we get a pet?" I look at Kuro curiously and shake my head.

"You know how your mother feels about pets…" I say sadly as I sigh. Shizzy-chan passed away a few years ago before the kids were born and Izaya hasn't wanted to bring another pet since then. It really hit him hard. It was really rough those few days afterwards. He wouldn't eat or talk. He'd just occupy himself in his work and sleep really early. "One day, we'll see if your mother will consider it, okay?"

"Alright… Can we go see uncle Shinra and aunt Celty?" Shinra isn't really their uncle, but Shiro was the one who gave him the title when he first met him and the Kuro just picked up on it.

"When your mother has his check-up we can go; that way we can visit him and get that business out of the way at the same time."

"You don't like uncle Shinra, Daddy." Shiro adds dully.

"I do." I say simply. "I just have issues with his methods of doctoring. Anyway, let's go get some ice cream." I suggest calmly. Suddenly, before we can even reach the ice cream shop, Kadota and his gang shows up. "Not them…"

"Kya! It's Shiro-kun and Kuro-kun." Erika says as she approaches us immediately. "How are you two?" She says as she claps her hands together. Kuro clings onto me, looking as if he's about to cry and Shiro glares at Erika, probably for scaring his younger brother. Usually Kuro isn't so much of a sensitive or shy kid, but with strange people or scary people he tends to feel fearful. "They don't talk too much, eh Shizuo?"

"You freak them out. Of course they won't want to talk." I say angrily as I hold my children closer to me. "Look, we're kind of busy…"

"Ah, taking your kids out for a walk? We understand." Erika says happily as she pets them. "They're adorable though; even more adorable each time I see them." Kadota kneels down and pats Shiro's head and gives him something and then does the same with Kuro. I eye him suspiciously and then he tells me it's just a keychain.

"One of them is a white dog and the other a black cat. I thought the key chains fit them well." Kadota explains happily. Shiro looks at the small white dog keychain in his hand and watches it glitter and shine then looks over to Kuro's black cat keychain. "We'll see you guys later. Don't be afraid to take the kids out more often, Shizuo." Kadota says as he pats my shoulder.

I sigh out of exhaustion (and we're not even at the park yet) and take Shiro and Kuro inside the ice cream shop. Kuro immediately picks out a flavor he likes, but then changes his mind right afterwards while Shiro sticks to one flavor the first time. Once I choose a flavor, Kuro immediately smiles and says to the man that he wants the same flavor as me. He always does that.

"Are you sure you like pistachio…?" I ask as I look at Kuro curiously. He nods with a smile and licks his ice cream. "Alright…" Sometimes Kuro forces himself to eat things or do things just because I do them. He sometimes copies me, doing everything I do as a game. If I'm on my cell phone with someone he'll take our home phone and pretend he's talking to someone. Its kind humorous because he tries to copy my words too, but I talk too fast for him, so he just mumbles.

"Can we call mom right now?" Shiro asks pleadingly. "Please?" He says as he grabs onto my sleeve and tugs on it. I nod my head and fish out my cell phone and dial Izaya's number.

"Izaya Heiwajima, the great information broker. How may I help you?" He knows it's me. Idiot. I get really happy when I hear him say his full name though. It reminds me of our wedding day. And though he sometimes annoys me, I love to hear his voice.

"Flea, I know that you know it's me." I say simply. I still call him "flea" but not as much as I used to and usually not in front of my kids. But sometimes it slips out because of habit. They really don't mind though since they don't know what it means. They just think it's a pet name. "Look, I just called to—"

"Say that you love me? How cheesy, Shizu-chan." Izaya says with a laugh. "Isn't that some title of an American song?"

"Shut up, flea. I wasn't gonna say that." I walk a little way from my kids so they don't hear me argue with him. "I just called because Shiro insisted that I call."

"Aw, so you weren't dying to call me yourself?" Izaya asks with a laugh. "He's still clingy…" He says a little worriedly.

"Yeah…you don't think it's anything that's gonna pose a problem?"

"Nah, once he starts meeting friends at school, he'll be just fine." Izaya says happily.

"Dad, I want to talk to him." Shiro asks as he tries to grab my cell phone, but he's too short to reach.

"Ah, yeah, he's gonna start kicking me if I don't hand the phone over to him, so I'll talk to you after you get off work." I say tiredly.

"Alright; love you, bye." Izaya says sweetly.

"Love you too." I answer lovingly as I then give my cell phone to Shiro. He walks off to the bench and sits down and talks with Izaya. A couple of times Shiro has been a bit violent towards me, especially whenever Izaya and I bicker. That's why Izaya and I try to settle out our problems privately. Kids shouldn't get involved in parental problems anyway. It's just Shiro gets himself involved because he always searches for his mother. I think that he might hate me…

"Kuro, you love your mother right?" I ask as I sit next to him.

"Yeah, mommy loves me a lot and I love mommy back, but I like playing with daddy more." He explains with a face full of ice cream. I clean his face with a napkin and ruffle his soft hair.

So…if Kuro loves his mother, but just prefers me…is it the same with Shiro? I can't really tell since he usually acts indifferently towards me. I hope I didn't do anything wrong…Maybe I did and don't know it? If that's the case, then that's the first thing I'm doing wrong—not remembering what I did wrong.

I feel like I'm in some horrible movie.

"Mom says he's gonna meet us in the park since he's done with work early." Shiro says happily. That's the only time I see him smile is when he's talking about Izaya or when he's with Izaya. I'm not jealous…just a little hurt.

"Well…until he gets here, how about we all play some baseball?" I ask as I grab the mitt and ball while Kuro takes the two bats he carried. "Shiro, are you gonna join in?"

"I want to play with mom…" He says as he puts his hands in his lap and drops his head, probably so he doesn't have to look up at me. "I'll just sit here."

"I don't want to leave you alone here." I say as I grab his hand. "Come on, you can sit under the tree over there while Kuro and I play ball." He doesn't struggle this time around. He follows us to where we're deciding to play and obediently stays put. All the while, he's looking for his mother.

I don't want to think that this is a psychological problem…but…maybe it is? Or am I just paranoid? Kuro isn't as attached as Shiro is. Shiro's attachment to his mother is almost like an obsession. I'm a bit worried. I'm not sure what one does when this sort of thing happens. Shiro has been like this since he was born, I suppose, but the intensity of his attachment has grown as he's gotten older.

I throw the ball to Kuro and watch as he spins around, trying to swing at the ball. I smile and toss it a few more times, each time Kuro desperately trying to hit the ball. Finally after a few more tries, he hits the ball, though it doesn't go too far. I clap and pick him up, place him on my shoulders and tell him that he's my little champ. I know people are probably staring, but it's just instinctive. I act this way with my kids. It's not a damn crime!

"How come people always stare this way, daddy?" Kuro asks as he retrieves his mitt and waits for me to toss him the ball so he can catch it.

"Ah, they just can't believe how cute you and Shiro are." I say nervously. "Anyway, you don't have to pay attention to them; they're nosey people." I toss the ball and he catches perfectly in his mitt. He's always been better at catching. I smile as he catches the next few tosses. "You're doing better at catching; we just need to work on your hitting."

"Then I can play with the pros?" Kuro asks as he smiles.

"Yeah, if you work hard enough and if you really strive for it." I say as I ruffle his hair.

"Always the dream inspirer." I hear a familiar voice say behind me. I turn around and see Izaya holding Shiro's hand. Shiro attaches himself to Izaya's pants all the time, so seeing him cling onto him like this is not unusual. "How long have you guys been out here?"

"Not too long. Kuro really wanted to come to the park." I explain as I ruffle Kuro's hair again. Kuro then runs over to his mother and nuzzles his face against his leg. This irks Shiro, but he allows his brother to do this. "How was work?"

"Fine. A customer cancelled so that's why I'm here." He says as he bends down and hugs both Shiro and Kuro. When I look upon this kind of scene I feel happy, but why does it also feel like there's something missing? "How about we go home and I whip us something tasty for dinner?" Both Shiro and Kuro agree to the suggestion.

On the way home, Kuro walks beside me skipping happily, while Shiro stays with his mother and talks to him about things that he probably never wants to talk to me about. I really want Shiro to love me even if it's not as much as his mother.

"So…how has everything been?" Izaya asks as he hangs his jacket when we arrive home. I sigh and shake my head.

"No progress…he still won't talk to me…or even give me a smile unless he's talking about you…" I say sadly. "I mean, I get why he loves you so much." I say as I kiss Izaya's forehead. "But…I don't get why he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you." Izaya says as he ruffles my hair. "He just…isn't used to you…?"

"You don't sound too sure about your answer. I thought you were supposed to be the 'great information broker,' eh?" I say bitterly.

"It's not my fault that I don't know." Izaya says as he heads into the kitchen. "Maybe he doesn't like your bitter attitude."

"I wouldn't be bitter if you didn't have him hate me!" I say angrily. Thankfully, the kids went upstairs and shut their doors so they could play. I'm hoping they don't hear us.

"Look, can you just let me make dinner? I rather not fight about this right now. I just got off work." Izaya explains simply.

"It's always about you." I whisper as I sit down on the couch before turning on the TV. We keep quiet after that.

It's not like I want to fight with him, but I just get so upset. It's not a good feeling when you know you're child doesn't particularly adore you…It's not supposed to be like this…

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A/N: Aw, Shizuo's having problems D: He will prevail though...hopefully...I mean what child wouldn't adore a father who's strong like Shizuo? Or just Shizuo, period. Anyway please review!


	2. Bedtime

I'm so sorry if this chapter is too short, I had a little scare with my Snowie-kun escaping. I thought I lost him TT~TT But he's back home now and is sitting in my lap all happily. I realize that this chapter might be filler. I'm sorry if it is. It will pick up in the next chapter ^^ I love the reviews you guys give me. They motivate me a lot :D Don't hesitate to yell at me for mistakes. I don't mind. It helps me improve. Anyway, back to the story!

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At dinner Shiro sits next to his mother and Kuro sits next to me, which basically means that Izaya and I don't sit together. It irks me because I we hardly spend time together, alone or otherwise. We don't talk too much either since every time we do, we get into an argument. It's difficult because we were once so close and now we're struggling to make our relationship last. It's not like we'd ever think of divorcing especially now because of the kids, but we're just not doing well.

Kuro pokes at his food nervously, probably feeling the tension in the air between his mother and me. Kuro is a mood sensor while Shiro is a lie detector. Kuro usually doesn't do well when he's around people who give off negative energy. Shiro can tell when someone's lying, whether it's Kuro, Izaya, or me. It's hard to keep secrets from him.

Shiro isn't bothered by the tension though. He eats his food calmly and then picks up his plate to put it in the sink. Kuro finishes his food a little more slowly, but before he takes his plate he tugs at my sleeve and tells me he wants to whisper something to me.

"You should apologize to mommy." He whispers into my ear and makes a pleading face at me. I smile and tell him that me and Izaya are gonna have ourselves a little talk and that he should go upstairs. He nods and heads upstairs with a smile. Shiro, however doesn't leave. He usually waits for Izaya to finish his food and then clings onto him until bedtime. Sometimes not even bedtime pries Shiro away from his mother. More often than not, he'll crawl into bed with us and I think you can tell what that means. Yeah, that means no sex. Not like we have sex anyway since we had the kids and they're always home. They don't have friends to visit or have sleepovers with yet since they don't go to school yet. Shiro is expected to go this year in the fall, while Shiro is attending next year.

"Shiro…could you leave me and your mother alone for a bit so we can talk privately?" I ask as I pick up my plate and Izaya's and put it in the sink. I rinse off the grim and wait to hear Shiro's answer.

"No…" He says simply. "I want to be with mommy. He's been gone all day."

"Just let your father and I talk for a little while, Shiro. I'll go upstairs and play with you afterwards. I promise." Izaya says as he pats Shiro's head. Our son nods and then heads upstairs solemnly. He turns his head and glares at me before disappearing into his room, shutting the door a little too roughly.

"Did you see that?" I ask him as I sit down gloomily. "He hates me." I say as I rub my temples. Izaya gets out of his chair and sits next to me, rubbing my back lovingly as he leans closer. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier…I just…" I suddenly feel his lips on mine. God, it's been a while since I've kissed him like this. I hold onto him and we deepen the kiss. He closes his eyes and moans into the kiss before pulling away and nuzzling his head under my chin like he used to. "W-what w-was that f-for?" Damn, now I have a stuttering problem.

"I've missed you…" He says simply. "I'm really sorry about…everything…"

"You don't have to apologize." I say as I run my fingers through his hair. I take his hand and rub my thumb over the wedding ring that's identical to mine. I remember the engraving I had ordered to put on his. It reads "Love you always" whereas mine reads "Love you forever." So, we usually say that we love each other "always and forever" whenever the kids aren't around.

"I don't want to fight with you about this…" Izaya says as sighs. "It's not either of our faults that things have turned out this way…Maybe we should spend more time with them…You know…separately."

"Seperately?"

"Well, I take Kuro to work with me while you take Shiro with you. How about that?" Izaya asks as he looks at me with a smile. "That way Shiro can get used to you. Obviously everything that we've tried up until now hasn't been working…"

"Yeah…I'll give it a shot then." I say with a hopeful smile. "Look…I'm really sorry about what I said..." He leans closer to me and puts his arms around me. "I love you…you know that right?"

"I know. I love you too. Always?"

"And forever." I say as I look at him with a smile before kissing him passionately. Izaya puts his arms around me and moans into the kiss, but as we're about to pull away and then kiss again, I see Shiro standing close by watching us patiently. "Shiro!" I say as I wipe my mouth. Izaya turns around and nervously looks at Shiro.

"What are you guys doing…?" He asks curiously as he gets closer to Izaya and clings onto his shirt.

"Ah, well, your father and I were just…talking…" Izaya says nervously as he pats Shiro's head.

"Looks like you guys were kissing." Shiro says as he nuzzles his head against Izaya's chest. "Can you read me a bedtime story…like you do every night?" Izaya nods and takes our son's hand before walking to the stairs. Before ascending, he looks over to me and mouths "Be right back." I sigh and then head to the living room.

**Izaya's POV**

I don't think that Shiro is a bad kid. Kuro isn't either. But, Shiro has some sort of problem with his father. Although Kuro prefers to be around his father, he doesn't ignore my existence or dislike me as Shiro seems to avoid and dislike his father. I've been trying to reason with Shiro, trying to ask him what his reason is for acting the way he does towards Shizu-chan, but he always ignores my questions that involve him.

Our fighting usually is about Shiro, but it's not his fault. We're just accustomed to fighting to solve our problems. I remember when I was pregnant with Shiro, Shizu-chan and I would fight a lot since I had unimaginable mood swings. I also had weird cravings and then got stretch marks, which I still have. Every morning I'd complain to Shizu-chan about me gaining a pound or a couple pounds. One time I even checked the scale and told Shizu-chan I had gained fifty pounds; turns out that I hadn't put the scale to zero before I stepped on it.

"Son, can you do me a favor?" I ask as I sit next to him as he finds a book in the bookshelf that I haven't read to him yet. He looks at me and nods enthusiastically. "Can you behave for your father tomorrow? I told him that you're gonna be going with him for the entire day tomorrow, so I don't want you causing him trouble. Got it?"

"But mom…I…"

"Son, promise me." I ask him seriously. "I won't read you a story until you promise." He hesitates for a moment and then presses his book against him shyly before nodding.

"I promise…" Shiro finally says sadly. He looks so much like Shizu-chan, but such an expression wouldn't look right on Shizu-chan's face.

"Good, you're father has a day off tomorrow so you two can have all kinds of fun." Shiro sighs and nods in understanding before tugging at my shirt so I can follow him to his bed. I tuck him into bed and take the book so that I can read it to him. Shizu-chan tried to read Shiro a story once, but Shiro complained that he wasn't doing it right. He insisted that I be the one to always read him a story, whether it be from a book or something I make up. If he asks me for a made up story I usually take bits and pieces of my life with Shizu-chan and make it into a story I call "The wolf and the rabbit." I'm the rabbit since I'm so cute and Shizu-chan is the hungry wolf. Although in retrospect, maybe Shizu-chan should be the rabbit since he's so horny.

After I read Shiro a story I turn off the lights and close the door slowly. He's already in bed and seems to have put his head down, so I'm hoping he'll sleep. Kuro on the other hand is a hassle for me. If it's me, he'll do anything in his power to make me struggle, so he'll be one of the kinds of kids who bounce around the room and refuse to go to bed. With Shizu-chan, he's completely obedient and when told, he'll rush over into his bed and stay there. It's not that he hates me, but seeing as I seem to be the one who always gets my way, and he knows this, he likes to turn the tables and see how I like when I'm not in control.

I walk over to Kuro's room and open the door slightly and see that he's already sound asleep, tucked in and everything. He's holding onto his favorite stuffed animal, a cute fairly large pig. I walk over carefully and bend down to comb his hair with my fingers, removing strands away from his face. He stirs a little and then opens his sleepy eyes.

"Goodnight mommy." He whispers softly as he takes my hand. "Love you." I smile and lean over to kiss his forehead.

"Goodnight. I love you too." I say before turning on his nightlight (he's still afraid of the dark). I close the door softly and then sigh. I hardly get to see both of my children because of my job. And what's worse is that Shizu-chan is left with Shiro who doesn't cooperate with him too easily. Usually, we have to leave the kids with Shinra and Celty, so they hardly see us during the day. Maybe that's why they're clingy? I don't really want this become a tragedy for our family. I don't want it to turn out like I saw in this one program where my children will start calling Celty mommy. I also want to straight out Shiro and Shizu-chan relationship. We're supposed to be a family.

"Thanks for tucking Kuro in." I say happily as I enter my bedroom I share with Shizu-chan.

"Yeah, no problem." Shizu-chan says as he changes the channel on the TV. "Shiro's in bed right?"

"Yeah, I don't know for how long." I say as I go under the covers and run my fingers through my hair. "How many nights has it been now?"

"Twelve." Shizu-chan says simply. "He can't keep doing this and you can't keep encouraging him by letting him."

"I'm not letting him…it's just that when I look at how heartbroken he is when I say no, I just can't stop myself from saying yes." I say as I put the pillow over my head. "I'm not heartless…"

"Of course you're not; but you should be a little bit assertive." Shizu-chan says as he takes the pillow away from my face. "

"Easy for you to say, you're all about disciplining him." I say as I turn off my lamp on my side.

"Yeah and you spoil him." He retorts angrily. "I don't want to argue with you again…but if you're gonna let him—" Shizu-chan stops and looks towards the door, which has been opened. Shiro shyly comes in to stand at the door and silently asks permission to sleep with us. Twelve nights now, huh? I've asked Shiro if anything's been bothering him, but he's not much of a talker when it comes to problems he has. I swear that he's as stubborn as his father. They might not get along, but they sure are alike in the little things they do. They just don't realize it.

"Come here Shiro." I say as I sit up and turn my lamp back on. I can feel Shizu-chan glaring at the back of my head. Shiro walks over without paying much attention to his father. "Look Shiro, I want you to stay in your bed tonight…this has been too many nights that you've been over here."

"Does mommy not love me anymore?" He asks as he holds onto his blanket solemnly.

"No, no, no it's not that." I say as I bring him into my lap. "I love you a lot and so does your father." When I added the "your father" part he flinched and glanced over to Shizu-chan as if he was a threat. "But…I think it's best if you sleep in your bed from now on." I run my fingers through his hair and hold him tightly in my arms. God, it hurts so much when I hear him say that he thinks I'd ever hate him.

"Alright…" He finally agrees as he gets off and slowly heads off to his bedroom. "Goodnight mommy…"

"Goodnight Shiro." I say as I watch him drag his way back to his bedroom. Not even a "goodnight" for his father. It really is a problem. He will barely look at Shizu-chan. Well, tomorrow they'll spend the whole day together so I'm hoping that that will help.

I lie back down and look over to Shizu-chan who's looking like something just tugged at his heartstrings.

"I thought you said to be more assertive." I say with a laugh. "It looks like you're heart just broke."

"It's nothing…" He says as he covers himself and turns away from me. I snake my arms around his waist and place my head at the crook of his neck, waiting for him to turn around. After a couple seconds he does turn around and wrap his arms around me. "I'm sorry I made you do that…"

"It's alright…it's been a while since we've held each other like this in bed." I say as I nuzzle my head under his chin. "It's also been a while since we've had sex."

"Yeah…" Shizu-chan says as he blushes. "Maybe next weekend we could send the kids off to Shinra's to spend the night?"

"You read my mind." I say happily as I start drifting off to sleep.

"I better not do that again…your mind is freaking insane." Shizu-chan says with a laugh. "Goodnight." He says before kissing my forehead.

"Goodnight."

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A/N: Naughty parents :3 Anyway, thank you for all of those reading and those of you reviewing. I really appreciate it. Please review! And if you have any suggestions, things you want to see in future chapters or something. i shall try my best to fufill your wishes. I will also give credit to the idea I use :D I will put little flashbacks of when Izaya was pregnant so YAY XD Anyway, until the next chapter!


	3. At the Office

Yay! Next chapter! I'm all happy today because I woke up to a Durarara poster with Shizuo and Izaya XD There may be mistakes so please don't hesitate to tell me if there are. Please enjoy and review!

**Note**: This is still in Izaya's POV until it says otherwise :3

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We don't just have Shiro's extreme clinginess to worry about. Kuro is sometimes a big troublemaker as well. So, in the morning I wasn't surprised to find my face covered in black pen markings. I look over to where Shizu-chan is sleeping soundly and find black pen markings on his face too. I sigh and get up to get a wet cloth to wipe my face and Shizu-chan's.

Just because Kuro prefers Shizu-chan over me doesn't save Shizu-chan from Kuro's little tricks. Ah, he reminds me of me when I was younger. He's always playing tricks on people, friends, family, complete strangers. That's why we don't go out too often.

I smile as I place the wet cloth over Shizu-chan's face, a cold, wet cloth. He jumps up and throws the wet cloth before glaring at me, probably cursing me out in his head. I smile and stick out my tongue.

"What the hell was that for?" He asks loudly as I skip to the bathroom.

"You had a little something on your face." As I move my hand over my face to show him where it is the "something" is. Shizu-chan wipes his face with the cloth and notices the black stains. He sighs and nods as he understands.

"Kuro usually does this when Shiro tells him to…that means Shiro's not too happy about what you said yesterday." Shizu-chan says as he gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom that's in our room.

"I swear, Kuro gets influenced much too easily." I say with a laugh as I follow him into the bathroom and wrap my arms around him. "Shizu-chan gets to spend time with his favorite boy today." I say as I nuzzle my head against his back. "Try to behave, okay?" Shizu-chan feels his chin and gets out his shaver and shaving cream from the drawers.

"I'm always on my best behavior. If you could tell me what I'm doing wrong, it would really help." Shizu-chan is clueless, but even_ I_ don't know what's going on in Shiro's head. I hope they can settle out their problems though. I really did enjoy being alone in bed with Shizu-chan last night. Even if we didn't have sex, I felt connected with him. Lying beside him comforts me since I'm a needy person. "You know I love both of them the same right?"

"I know." I say as I look at myself in the mirror. Ah, looking at myself now I can still remember when I was pregnant. I truly didn't look like myself and even if I was willing to have children, during the time when I was pregnant I was despising the side effects. I was moody, fat, and hungry all the time. I was also quite emotional. I don't know how Shizu-chan dealt so calmly with me.

**Flashback (Two Months into Pregnancy)**

_I wake up early in the morning and first thing I do is feel like crap and then complain about it to Shizu-chan before sprinting over to the bathroom and spilling out my guts into the toilet. I drag my way back beside Shizu-chan on our bed and put a pillow over my face._

"_God, I feel like I'm dying." I say miserably as I groan into the pillow before kicking Shizu-chan's side. "This is all your fault." I say bitterly. He looks at me without any scorn or anger, which confuses me since anytime I used to complain, he'd spit a comeback at me. He just looks like he wants to hold me right now, probably because I look so vulnerable._

"_I'm sorry, Izaya, but I promise it won't last too long." He says as he tries to comfort me by kissing my forehead. I know he's sacrificing a lot too. He's been leaving work early ever since we found out I was pregnant. And he's most definitely suppressing his sexual urges too. He's still a monster even if he's my husband. He has animalistic instincts that tell him to push me down and shove his big…well…never mind._

"_Look at me I'm gaining so much weight…" I whine pathetically. Then I suddenly feel my mood lift as I realize something. "Ah, we're only seven months away from having little Shiro-kun though." I say as I wrap my arms around Shizu-chan._

"_Shiro-kun?" _

"_You don't like that name?" I say sadly._

"_No, no I do. It's perfect." Shizu-chan says nervously, trying to keep me from crying, which I do quite often now._

"_I'm gonna get so fat…" I say as I bury my face in his shirt. "I'm gonna have to buy maternity ware." I say dramatically as I feel a dark cloud hover over my head. "Oh my god, what if I stay fat even after I have our child?" _

"_Izaya, calm down. You'll be able to lose the weight." Shizu-chan says as he rubs my back, trying to comfort me in my hysteria. _

"_How the hell would you know? You're a man; you wouldn't know about being pregnant!" Shizu-chan looks at me questioningly and kind of chuckles. _

"_Um…since you've probably forgotten, you're a man too." I look at him and blink in confusion before looking at myself and checking inside my pants. I sigh and smack my forehead. _

"_I feel like I'm going crazy." I say as I face plant myself into the bed. Shizu-chan laughs a little before running his fingers through my hair, which he often does whenever he wants to make me feel better. It works too. I usually calm down or cheer up whenever he touches my hair like this. He may be a monster, but he's a gentle man at times like these. I'm glad that I'm the only one who can see him like this. _

"_That's not possible, you know that right? You're already crazy. Heck, you're the most mentally insane person I know, so this is 'normal' for you." Shizu-chan says as he makes me sit up and kisses my lips softly. "You're gonna be just fine. You read about pregnancy before, Mr. Great Information Broker. So why are you so worried about stuff like this?" _

"_I'm not worried, protozoan." I say bitterly. I face plant myself into the bed again and sigh. "I'm pissed…and sad…and happy…all at the same time." _

"_Ah, must be the hormones kicking in." Shizu-chan says with a laugh._

"_If you don't stop laughing my hormones aren't gonna be the only thing that are kicked in." I say threateningly._

Our conversations never seem to bore me. For a while that's how it went. Shizu-chan would act perfectly calm while I would be a bitter, bitchy, pregnant man. That happened every morning though. I'd barf, complain about it to Shizu-chan, and then argue with him about he made me miserable. All the while I couldn't believe Shizu-chan's patience (or my own extreme behavior). It was annoying to him I'm sure, but he dealt with me like some romantic husband in a book I read once where the husband was so loving to his wife during her pregnancy. It really surprised me (and frightened me sometimes). It just was so out of character for him.

After cleaning myself up I head downstairs to make breakfast. Shiro and Kuro are already awake, playing video games with each other in Shiro's room. Shiro quickly tackles my legs and hugs it. I pat his head and kneel down to kiss his forehead like I do every morning before I head off to work.

"Mommy, I don't want to go with Dad…" Shiro says as he hugs me. "I want to go with you."

"Kuro is gonna go with me to work, so you can spend time with your father. He's gonna take you anywhere you want to go."

"But…I…"

"No buts. I have to get Kuro ready so we can get to work." I say as I head into Shiro's room and begin talking to Kuro about today's plans.

**Shiro's POV**

My mother keeps telling me how I should spend time with father, but I really don't want to go anywhere with him. He's not like mom. He doesn't treat me the same way as Kuro. I know he likes Kuro more. He scares me too. And it's all his fault anyway…It's all his fault…

"Shiro, where do you want to go today?" My dad asks me as he pets my head. I back away and shake my head. "No, I don't want to go with you." He looks really sad, but I really just want to be with mom. Mom loves me most and it makes me happy that he does.

"I know you'd rather be with your mother, but I really want to spend the day with you."

"No you don't. You're just doing what mom says." I say angrily.

"Look, we'll go out for a little while and then come back home. But either way, we're gonna spend some time together. I love you just as much as Kuro. I want you to know that." He's lying.

"If we have to go somewhere…then I want to go to bookstore…" I say as I take out the money I have in my pocket. "Mom gave me this money so I could by a new book, so he could read it to me."

"Fine, we can go to the bookstore then, but you don't have to spend the money your mom gave you. I can buy the book for you. You save that money." My dad says with a smile as he kneels down to my level.

After we all have breakfast, Kuro gets on his jacket (with Mom's help) and waits for Mom at the door. Mom pats my head and kneels down to fix my jacket. He wishes me luck with dad and then kisses my forehead before talking to dad about all the stuff he needs to do, give me a bath, feed me, that kind of stuff. Dad says he knows and then gives Mom a kiss before Kuro and Mom leave to go to work. They kiss a lot. It makes me mad sometimes because I heard from uncle Shinra and aunt Celty that Dad used to be really mean to Mom. I wasn't supposed to be listening, but I couldn't help it. I heard that Mom even got hurt because of Dad.

It's all his fault too. It's all his fault that I'm like this. I never asked to be some kind of a freak. Nothing's wrong with Kuro. No, Kuro is normal. It's just me. I'm a freak all because of Dad. Dad never talks about it with me and Kuro, but I already know from what I've heard from people around town. My Dad used to be really bad. He used to destroy stuff and used to get really mad all the time. Mom used to call him a monster and that's what I am. It's because of him.

"Well…you're mother is gonna be back before dinner, so I can give you a bath before then." My dad says as he grabs his sunglasses and jacket. "Let's head out. I've got some other plans for us today after we go to the bookstore." I really wonder how Mom is gonna handle Kuro. My younger brother is a troublemaker and if my mom doesn't give him something to do, he'll find something to do that'll amuse him and trouble his victims.

**Kuro's POV**

My brother and I haven't been separated before, so I'm not sure how to feel about this right now. Mommy is taking me to work though. I like being around Daddy more, but Mommy isn't so bad. Mommy's office is not too far from home, so he and I are walking to the big building where his office is, hand-in-hand. I run around and then start skipping beside Mommy.

"So why am I coming to work with you, Mommy?"

"You're father and Shiro need to spend more time together and I thought that we need to spend more time together too." My mommy says as opens the door for me to head inside. "Now, we're gonna go up to the twelfth floor. You want to press the button once we get into the elevator?" He asks me with a smile. I nod happily as we finally make it to the elevator. It makes a ding sound after Mommy presses the button and then opens. I skip inside and look at all the buttons. Mommy gets inside and tells me that I can press the number twelve button.

I smirk and then press all the buttons. All the buttons light up and I clap happily as we start to move up. Mommy isn't too happy. He looks kind of annoyed as the door opens after we reach a floor. Each time the door opens I try to get out, but Mommy pushes me back to my place. I hang onto him and watch as the people on each floor look at us as the door opens.

Then, we finally get to the twelfth floor. Mommy checks in with the lady at the front desk and I look around trying to find a desk with a bowl of candy like the one at the barber's, but there's nothing one desk and a bunch of pictures on the wall. Mommy takes my hand after he checks in and opens the door to his office. I run over to his desk and take his name plate.

"Izaya Heiwajima." I read cutely. "What was your name before, Mommy?"

"What do you mean?" He asks me as he sits down in his chair that spins around.

"I mean, before you and Dad got married what was your last name?" I ask as I look at him.

"Ah, well my last name was Orihara." My mommy answers as he puts on his reading glasses. He looks kind of funny with them on. Daddy even thinks so, but he says he looks cute too.

"How come you had to change your name?"

"Well…um…when you love someone a lot and get married to them, you change your last name so everyone knows you're together." He starts typing on his computer, so I get curious and walk over to stand behind him. "Ah, son how about you go sit over there so you can let me work. You can even read one of the books on the shelves."

"I don't like to read…" I say as I whine. "Can I go back downstairs?"

"No, I don't want you running off. Stay on this floor." My mommy says as he continues working on whatever is on his computer. He doesn't look like he's paying much attention to me, so I sneakily walk closer to the door, taking small, baby steps until I finally reach it. I put my hand on the doorknob and slowly turn it. My mommy looks really busy though, so he doesn't seem to notice me slipping away through the door.

Once I'm outside, I crawl so I'm not seen by the lady at the front desk. I then head into the elevator once it dings and then opens. I clap happily and head down to floor eleven to see what's there. When the door of the elevator opens I see a bunch of people working at desks. I smirk and then walk around, trying to find something to do.

"Ah, but the report hasn't been filed yet, right?" I hear one of the workers say to another.

"No, I don't think so. The new guy is working on it. You know how slow _that_ can be." I slip passed them and then look into an empty desk space. I walk in and sit at the chair that spins. I twirl around for a few minutes and then look at the computer. Mommy never lets me play on his computer. I smile and move the mouse around to wake up the computer before clicking on a bunch of the little symbols. A bunch of stuff starts popping up really slowly and then the computer makes a funny noise before it turns really bright blue. There's a bunch of words on the screen, but I don't know what it says, so I jump out of the chair and head off after taking some blank pieces of paper and a pen.

I walk off and try to find a good place to draw, but everyone's getting in the way. I push through the crowds and then see a lady pushing a cart around that has some papers and books. I smile and wait for her to stop the cart. She walks away from the cart and starts talking to this old guy, so I take this chance and then I start to push the cart away. I make it pick up some speed and then climb on it.

I can't tell what's happening as I ride past all these people, but I can tell everyone's getting bothered by it because I hear people screaming and then I see papers flying everywhere. I jump out of the runaway cart before it runs into this guy holding stack of papers and then run off to where the elevator was. Some workers notice what I had done and try to catch me, but I'm really quick. Daddy says I get it from Mommy.

I get into the elevator and before the door closes I stick my tongue out at the people trying to catch me. I laugh happily and then press the number ten button. After a while of just riding up and down the elevator, I finally make it to the bottom floor. I'm still carrying the paper and pen I found upstairs so when I finally find the candy I've been hunting, I have to set my stuff down.

The lady at the desk isn't really paying much attention and besides I'm too short to see, so I carefully take out a couple pieces and then eat them. I repeat this for a while, sneakily taking large amounts until the bowl is empty. I have no reason to be here anymore so I head to the elevator again and decide to check all of the floors this time.

"Hello little guy, are you lost?" One of the workers asks me as I get out of the elevator and onto floor five. The last four floors were boring. Here on this floor there's a bunch of people working. I love people.

"No, actually I was looking for the copy machine." I say kindly.

"Oh, well it's over here." The man leads me to the machine and shows me how to work it. "Did your mom or dad ask you to copy something?"

"Yeah, my mommy said to." I say happily. "I won't take long." I say as I draw something on my piece of paper with the pen I borrowed upstairs. I happily scribble down some words and then place it on top of the glass of the copier before hitting the big button. The man had already left to go work, so I'm copying alone, which makes me happy since I like to work alone.

After copying a lot, I take some of them and start handing them out. Everyone looks confused, which makes me smile. I like seeing their faces. After handing out the last few papers, I head upstairs to hand out the last paper to a very special person.

I sneak my way back into my mommy's office once I get onto the twelfth floor and then run over behind him. He didn't notice I was gone. He continues to type on his computer and then puts a hand on my head. I take this chance to hand him the paper. He looks from his computer, fixes his glasses, and then looks at my paper. He smiles and brings me closer to him.

"You're quite the artist." He tells me and then reads a message he just got on his computer. "Quite the little escape artist too." He says as he looks at me with his mad face on. "What were you doing downstairs?"

"Nothing…just playing…" Mommy gets up right after I say this and head outside to talk to the lady at the front desk. I don't think Mommy likes _my_ kind of playing…but I hope he liked the picture I drew of him.

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A/N: I love Kuro :3 He's a troublemaker kind of kid, which is fun :D (well not for Mommy Izaya). Anyway, we'll get to know the kids even more as the story progresses then I shall ask you which child you love more :D I know I'm horrible :) Anyway, please please review. It makes me motivated to continue.


	4. A Monster Hero

I really like this chapter ^^ Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday...I had anime disease where I watched 24 episodes of Persona 4: the animation (my new obessession along with my Shizaya obessession XD) So...I might not be able to update so frequently as before. I'm hoping to get back on track. So sorry for the wait. Thanks to all of you who are still with me! I hope you all enjoy!

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**Shizuo's POV**

I don't feel terribly uncomfortable around Shiro. I actually enjoy being with both of my son's, but whenever he tells me that he loves his mother more I just don't feel wanted. And what's worse, I don't even know the reason for him hating me. Right now he's behaving and allowing me to hold his hand as we walk the streets of Ikebukuro, but he doesn't look too happy about being with me.

"So…what kind of books do you like to read?" I ask as I press the button of the crosswalk.

"I like fantasy based stories…" He says shyly as he continues to look grumpy. "Mommy even makes up a story for me."

"Ah, right…he told me about that." I say as I see the light change, telling us to cross. I pull my son so he walks with me to the other side. The bookstore isn't too far now. I used to come to the bookstore with Izaya whenever he was feeling down during his pregnancy. He loves to read so naturally he'd get his kids into reading. Kuro doesn't like to read though. He's more of an action kind of kid, always ready to play or exercise. Shiro is more of a calm kind of kid who's more interested in reading or writing; stuff like that.

We finally make it to the bookstore where Shiro let's go of my hand and heads straight to his favorite section. I follow him over, but notice some familiar faces in the manga section of the store. I flinch as I realize its Kadota and his gang again. I rather not run into crazy girl again so I sneak past them and finally reach my son.

"Dad…" He says shyly. "Do you love Mom?" I'm kind of taken aback by this question, but I recompose myself and kneel down to his level and ruffle his hair.

"Of course I do." I say happily. "I know we might fight sometimes, but we don't hate each other." I say as I fix my sunglasses. "Your mother was more a handful when he was pregnant." I say with a laugh. God, I can still remember it when he was four months in his pregnancy and always complaining about how much weight he was gaining. It was really noticeable by that point.

**Flashback**

_During lunchtime I decide to check up on Izaya since he's staying home today because of his morning sickness that doesn't seem to leave. When I head inside I find that he's at his desk in his study room. He doesn't look like he's asleep so I shake him a little. He lifts his face up and glares at me. _

"_I don't want to see you right now." He says icily. _

"_Come on, you've been mad at me every day now. Do I have to apologize for this?" He hits his head on his desks and groans. _

"_You made me fat, you monster!" I shake my head and run my fingers through his hair. He really likes it when I do this. "Get away from me!"_

"_Look, you're gonna look back at this and think that all this is a blessing." I say happily. _

"_This is a disease. A horrible disease." Izaya says as he sighs. "I feel so heavy…I feel like running you over with a truck…" _

"_You did run me over with a truck once before." I remind him bitterly. _

"_Well, you deserve the same punishment right now." _

"_Punishment? You did that before for no reason!" I say loudly, but not angrily. "Look, I brought you some flowers." I say as I present them to him. He eyes them carefully and then pounds his head on the desk again. _

"_For some reason, I want to eat them…" Izaya says miserably. "Just put them somewhere I can't reach them…" I pat his head and put them in a vase on the window. "I hope you get depressed because I'm ignoring you and start eating tons of food to comfort your pathetic soul." _

"_First, how can you be ignoring me if you keep talking to me? And second, you're making a big deal out of all of this. So what if you're gaining weight?" _

"_You won't love me if I'm fat…" Izaya mumbles sadly. _

"_Is that what you're worried about?" I lift his head up and smile at him. "That's a real stupid reason. I love you even though you're a psycho, why would I not love you just because you're fat?" I ask him seriously as I kiss his lips. "And you call me a protozoan?" _

"_Shut up. I'm fat and emotional." Izaya says as he hugs me._

"Oi, Shiro you can get two books if you'd like." I say as I pat his head. He looks up at me and smiles slightly. I'm thinking right now that I'm bribing him to like me, but I'm really desperate right now.

Suddenly my phone rings. I pick it up and say hello.

"Ah, thank goodness you picked up Shizu-chan." Izaya says as he sounds out of breath.

"What happened?" I ask as I walk around with my phone in my hand. I aimlessly walk around; it's a habit I seemed to have picked up.

"Kuro's bouncing off the walls…I'm pretty sure he had the candy that was downstairs. I'm having a difficult time trying to make him sit down."

"Sit down? No, he doesn't know how to do that, flea." I say with a laugh. Kuro's quite a hyper kid actually. He won't sit still very long and it's usually difficult putting him to bed. All he knows how to do is play, pull pranks, play, eat, play some more, and cause a lot of damage to personal belongings. Once he thought it'd be cute to put my cell phone in the toilet. He wanted to see if it would still flush. It did and that's why I have a new phone.

"I already know that. While I was pregnant with him, he'd be kicking more frequently than Shiro had. He almost broke my rib even." Izaya reminds me as I remember that that was the day when we had to go to Shinra's because Izaya had an unbearable pain surge through him. "Look, I just called to see how you were doing with Shiro."

"We're at the bookstore and he's behaving really well actually, but we're still kind of distant." I say honestly. "It's not going to get better over such a small amount of time, flea."

"I know; I just wanted to make sure he was alright. Can't a mother worry?" He asks, pretending to sound bitter. "Look, just make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. Sometimes Shiro doesn't act so obediently when he's upset." Izaya explains seriously. "Anyway, I have to go…Kuro is trying to…wait…Kuro no, don't touch that!" The lines cuts and I'm left with just my assumption of what probably happened. Kuro probably cut the phone line or maybe he was touching Izaya's computer? I'm not really sure. There's an endless sea of possibility I rather not delve into it…

Ah, but I love my children, just as much as I love my husband. I certainly don't want to be like how Izaya's father was when he first found out that Izaya was dating me. I want to accept my children for who they are even if they don't like me, as long as their healthy and happy, I don't really care. Same goes for Izaya, but I don't really care much if he's happy. I know he's happy; he better be or I'll smash his head open. Also, if anyone ever heard me say these kinds of threats they'd probably take me seriously, but it's just me flirting with him.

"_I fucking love you, fucking louse." I say as I embrace him after a sudden fight we had a few months after getting married. He kisses my lips and runs his fingers through my hair._

"_Ne, ne Shizu-chan sure is charming." Izaya says with a snort. _

"_I'm gonna smash you're face in, Izzy-kun." I say as I crack my knuckles. Another fight we had out in the streets when we were still immature enough to have public spats._

"_I'm gonna shove a damn vending machine up your ass." Another fight, but this time at home while watching some movie. He had pissed me off with by saying something about me being some pansy homo, which I'm not._

But no matter how harsh I say things, Izaya knows I'm only flirting. But there hasn't been much of that lately. You can guess why.

"Dad, here." My son says suddenly as I close my cell phone. I notice that he didn't even ask me to talk to his mother, which is odd. He knows it was him too. He always knows when I'm talking to Izaya. Basically, Izaya and Shinra are the only ones that call me. Sometimes Tom calls me too, but that's not too frequently.

"Ah, you got the two books you wanted?" I ask as I turn around. I'm quite surprised when I see more than one book in Shiro's hands. I count them and find he has already picked out seven books. I check all of them, taking them off his hands and count up how much I'll be spending. Sheesh…luxuries sure are pricy. "Son, didn't I tell you to buy _two_ books?"

"I know, but mom told me once that 'whenever your dad is paying, go all out and get whatever you want' so that's what I'm doing. Besides, I really want all these books." That sneaky little shit! "I can put some back…"

"I would really like to buy you all the books, but I did already tell you two." I say sternly. He looks at me, not with contempt, but with a smile. He puts some of the books back and gives me the two books he wants the most. I pat his head and he follows me to the checkout counter.

After paying, Shiro travels with me along the streets of Ikebukuro, without having a tantrum over the books he really wanted, which surprises me. Sometimes he really does give me hell about small shit like this, but today he's actually being a good boy. This obviously makes me happy.

"How come you don't like hanging around me that much like this, Shiro?" I ask him seriously as I press the button on the crosswalk. He looks up at me and takes my hand so he and I can cross safely. He doesn't seem to want to answer me. We're about to walk across when the light turns, but Shiro runs off without me. I see him freeze up as a car honks loudly, trying to tell him to get out of the way as it's coming straight at him. I quickly push my son out of the way and as if I'm in some weird movie, everything slows down. I feel my body get hit, but I'm not sure how everything went down before that.

All I remember next is my son shaking me with tears in his eyes. I'm not hurt too bad. I've gotten hit by a fucking truck before and this was only a small car. I feel something wet on my forehead though so I'm pretty sure I got a cut on my head somewhere.

"Dad! Dad!" I hear Shiro screaming at me as I open my eyes fully. I get up slowly and rub my head. "Dad!" He says before breaking down and jumping into my lap.

"Shiro…" I say as I put my hand on his head. "Are you okay?" I ask him as I run my fingers through his hair gently. He nods his head and as he looks up at me, he wipes his tears. "Good, I wouldn't have known what I'd do if you ever got hurt." His eyes start to water again before he embraces me. "Don't worry, I'm gonna be just fine." I tell him honestly.

A crowd has gathered, but they quickly disperse as I give them a glare. I take my son's hand and tell him that we're going to Shinra's. I just want to make sure my son is okay. Such an event could really traumatize him. The bastard driver got away, but if I ever see him, he's fucking dead. It was a damn red light too, that fucker was supposed to stop.

There's no way I can hide something like this from Izaya, but I'm sure it's gonna make him all emotional. He'll probably be hugging Shiro to death once we get home, but right now I'm just hoping Shinra gives me the "alright" with Shiro.

"He doesn't look too bad, but he is shaken up from the whole experience. He does have a cut on his elbow, probably from when you pushed him, but other than that he's sustained no other physical damage." Shinra says as he pats my son's head while Celty puts a kiddie bandage on Shiro's elbow. He watches Celty as she places it on the cut (after Shinra cleaned it properly) and she pats his head. Shiro immediately checks to see what cartoon figure is on the bandage.

"As for you, Shizuo, you seem kind of worse considering the cut on your head, but no broken bones." Shinra says happily. Celty taps on her PDA and shows it to me.

[You're a really good father, Shizuo.] I blush and scratch the back of my head and tell her that I'm nothing special. [Don't be modest.]

"I'm not modest." I say sternly as I walk over to my son. He is a bit shaky, which I don't blame him to be. But he seems to be looking at me differently. He seems to have mixed feelings though by the way he's not talking to me, basically ignoring me. I think, just how I fought against my feelings for Izaya when we were younger, Shiro is fighting against his feelings for me. I don't know why he doesn't like me. I've asked him numerous times before and have always fallen short of an answer. He'd usually just look at me strangely. "You alright, champ?" I ask him as I get him off the doctor table. He nods shyly and takes my hand, but doesn't seem to want to talk to me.

[Maybe you should take him home.] Celty shows me her PDA and then types quickly again. [He needs to rest.]

"Yeah, we better get home." This immediately strikes a reaction in Shiro. He lets go of my hand and shakes his head desperately.

"No! You promised to spend the whole day with me!" Shiro says as he looks at me sadly and then looks to the floor, probably feeling embarrassed. "I don't want to go home…I'm okay…"

"Alright, but if you feel like going home, you just tell me, okay?" I ask him as I kneel down and smile. He nods his head without looking at me and then takes my hand. "I guess we're going to the shopping center then." I then whisper to Celty and Shinra. "I'm gonna buy a gift for Izaya. It's almost our anniversary." I tell them happily.

[You better get him something nice.]

"Don't I always?" I ask Celty with a laugh. Last year I got him a knife (a pretty expensive knife) with a gem encrusted on the handle. He really liked it, so much that he almost kissed me to death. The year before, I got him a high quality camera for all his perverted and psycho hobbies. He liked that gift too. He takes pictures all the time. This year I'm getting his something just as good as all the other gifts I've given him.

"Well, then we better get going." I say as I take Shiro's hand and lead him to the door. "Say 'thank you' to uncle Shinra and aunt Celty." I tell my son. He shyly turns around and says thank you and goodbye to both of them. "Thanks guys." I say before I head out. They smile back at me—I mean if Celty had her head she'd be smiling—and say goodbye.

The shopping center has a lot of nice things; Shiro likes to come here with Izaya and Kuro on the weekends. When Kuro and Shiro were really small we had bought a two-seat stroller and just walked around town like a normal family. Shiro would sit in the back seat and Kuro in the front and because of this, Shiro would always fall asleep. Kuro was closer to the action so he'd always stay awake to see everything. It kind of reminds me of the times when Izaya and I would walk together when he was pregnant. He'd always feel really embarrassed because at the time he was already showing signs. Everyone would look at him and wonder if left himself go. It was discouraging him a lot.

**Flashback (Five months into Pregnancy)**

"_I feel like a freak show…why'd you convince me to walk out here?" Izaya asks as he sighs and continues to hold my hand._

"_You need the exercise and fresh air." I explain calmly as I look around at the windows of the stores. _

"_Are you saying I'm fat?" He asks bitterly. I look over to him with an annoyed expression and shake my head in disbelief. He reminds me of some woman I saw on TV on a drama program. I can just see him swaying his hips and wagging his finger at me._

"_You want me to buy you something?" I ask him as I try to change the subject. He usually likes it when I buy him things. He's not much a spender though. He manages money pretty well, but once in a while he likes to buy something nice like a jacket or a CD._

"_No…I'm not in the mood to spend all the money in your wallet…" He says sadly. I hold his hand a little more tightly. He knows what it means. I turn my head and lean towards him, but then I hear an annoying scream ring in my ear. I look over and see that it's that crazy girl Erika. She approaches us quickly, dragging along her friends—poor fools—and smiles happily at us. She looks at Izaya skeptically and pokes his stomach._

"_Wow Izaya you sure have gained weight." She says with a smile. "It almost looks as if you're pregnant." She says with a laugh. _

"_I am, you little insensitive—" I cover his mouth and laugh nervously. _

"_Ha, you're so funny, Izaya." I say as I keep holding my hand over his mouth. "Anyway, we should finish our stroll." _

"_Shizuo-kun is acting all funny too." Erika points out. "Did you guys do something naughty recently? Kya! Give me all the details!" _

"_Fuck no! Get away from us!" _

"_Hear that! He said he wouldn't give me the details, but he didn't deny doing something naughty!" Erika says before I take Izaya's hand and leave the obnoxious woman. Izaya can't really run, so we're just outside Russian Sushi, not too far away from the group of crazies. Simon looks at Izaya and smiles. _

"_Ah Izaya, Shizuo! Welcome, eat some sushi!" Simon says happily. I don't really want to explain to Simon why it is that Izaya can't have raw fish so I just give him a banal excuse as to why we can't eat today. "Hmm, something different with Izaya…" He then says as he looks at Izaya curiously. "Ah! He doesn't have usually jacket!" _

_I look at Izaya and then nod at Simon. He isn't wearing his furry jacket, nor has he for the last five months. Izaya feels a little discouraged again so he drops his head and tries to cover his rather large stomach with the maternity clothing he's wearing. He begins to walk away, ignoring Simon's further comments. I tell Simon that we have to go and so he leaves us alone. I catch up to Izaya and put a hand on his shoulder._

"_Are you okay?" _

"_You know those people that say that pregnant woman and pregnancy itself is beautiful?" Izaya asks me downheartedly. "Those people are a complete enigma to me." I smile and laugh a little as kiss his forehead._

"_I love you." _

In the shopping center I find there's a lot of jewelry around so I head over there to see the necklaces. I really want to buy Izaya a necklace. I know he'll love one because he liked the one Hina had on one day when we visited Kasuka and her. He was practically drooling over the thing.

"May I help you?" The jewelry man asks as he looks at me with a smile.

"Uh, I'm looking for a something nice for my husband." After we got married it took me a while to call Izaya my husband, but now I have no problem with saying it at all. I don't even stutter.

"Oh…" He says awkwardly. "Um, well are you looking for something really romantic?" I nod and he leads me down to where there are some really nice, romantic rings and necklaces. There are also earrings, but Izaya doesn't have his ears pierced.

**Shiro's POV**

My dad is looking for something for Mom. I can tell. He's really in love with Mom, but they still fight sometimes. I really don't like it when Dad yells at Mom. The last time he started fighting with Mom I pushed him real hard and then went over to Mom to see if he was okay. I don't want to really hurt Dad, but if he tries hurting Mom I won't stand for it.

I don't really want to stray off since Mom told me to behave, plus Dad saved me from that car. I know Dad loves me…but I've always thought that he was just a monster like everyone says. They say that Dad had a horrible temper. He could toss street signs and vending machines. He even picked up a truck. At least that's what everyone says.

I look around and then see a familiar face in the clothing section. I smile and head over as fast as I can, leaving my father behind.

"Uncle Kasuka!" I yell happily as I attach myself to his leg. Uncle Kasuka turns his head and looks down at me before petting my head. He kneels down and ruffles my hair.

"What are you doing here, Shiro? And where's your dad or mom?"

"My dad is over there getting something for my mom. It's their anniversary soon." I explain as I smile up at my uncle. "Uncle Kasuka, can I hang out with you?"

"You should really be getting back to your dad. He might get worried if he notices you're missing."

"I don't like being around my dad too much…"

"How come?" Uncle Kasuka asks as he takes my head and lets me tag along with him.

"Dad…it's Dad's fault I'm like this…" I say sadly.

"Like what?"

"I'm a monster just like he is."

"You're father isn't a monster and neither are you." Uncle Kasuka says sternly. "Nobody's perfect. Just because you're father and you are different doesn't mean you're monsters. Sometimes you can turn situations or traits that seem bad into good things. Besides, such traits are what make you, you."

"You sure talk like adult Uncle." I say as I try to get what he just said.

"I think you should give your father a chance. I know you love your mother a lot, but my brother has been trying really hard to have you love him just as much." Uncle Kasuka says with his usual dull look. "Big bro."

"Hmm?" My father turns around and looks at his brother in surprise. "Kasuka what are you doing here?"

"I'm in town for the weekend. I think you lost something." Uncle Kasuka says as he pats my head.

"Shiro, don't run off like that." My father scolds me a little less violently than I thought he would. "Look, we can go to all the other stores since I'm done here. Then we can have something for lunch before we head over to your mother's office. He just called me to go over and take him and your brother lunch."

"We get to go see Mom?" I ask happily. My father nods and smiles at me.

"Kuro must be giving your mother too much trouble since he usually doesn't call me to get lunch for him." I smile and laugh a little. Kuro is a bit more of a sneaky kid than me and my parents know it. It'd be a big list if I said all the things he's done that's caused my parent's trouble. I don't think I can even count that high yet.

Well, there's this one time he stole some baby's bottled when we were all walking in the park in the summer last year. He really wanted to drink from a bottle even if he was already three. Then there was this time when he had found Uncle Shinra's stash of pictures he has of Aunt Celty; that got Uncle Shinra and my parent's in trouble since Uncle Shinra wasn't very happy. Then there was this other time when he had stole Mom's silver ring, Dad's cell phone, Uncle Shinra's glasses, Aunt Celty's cell phone thingy, and Uncle Kasuka's script he had for a movie.

He also plays a lot of pranks. He once messed up the electricity in our apartment. He once helped Mom make cookies for Dad's birthday and put a lot of salt in the batch. It was the worst cookies I've ever tried. He colors on people's faces when their sleeping. He glues stuff like remotes, cell phones, magazines, sunglasses and money to the walls with some super glue he stole from the store (Mom had to pay for it after he found out it was stolen). He unscrews the chairs in the kitchen with Dad's screwdrivers. He also does classic tricks like the shaving cream on a sleeping person's hand and other ones. It's kind of funny though. He doesn't trick me because we're really close.

For a long time we're just browsing around all the stores in the shopping center. Uncle Kasuka had to leave a long time ago so it's just me and my dad. After browsing around for a while we head off to get something to eat for Mom and Kuro. Russian Sushi is usually Dad's choice since Mom loves fatty tuna a lot.

"Okay, after we see your mother and Kuro we're heading home to go give you a bath." My dad says as he leads me to the big building where Mom works.

"I don't want to take a bath…Mom always gives me a bath. I want him to do it." I've never had Dad give me a bath and I don't really want to start now. He's not like Mom.

"You're mother is gonna be busy and besides he told me I need to give you a bath." My dad says sternly. I sigh and glare at Dad as we head into the elevator after we get through the front door of the building. Inside the elevator there's a bunch of scribbles and only one word I can understand.

"Kuro Heiwajima." I read aloud. My dad shakes his head in disbelief as he looks around in the elevator and notices all of the weird scribbles. Kuro sure knows how to have fun.

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A/N: I love Kuro, I do XD He's a little mischievous boy. Anyway, let's see what Izaya will say to Shizuo about his time with Kuro which isn't over yet XD PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you!


	5. Completely Exhausted

I really am sorry I hadn't updated yesterday. I'm getting slowed down lately. My obessession is sort of the cause, but it's also because I'm doing other projects and whatnot. I'll hopefully be back with updating everday soon. I'm sorry if this really discourages people, but I'm not giving up with story so don't worry ^^ I'm just being really slow...Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and please tell me what you think. I'm getting having a bit of trouble since I think I'm getting writer's block, so ideas of what you guys want to read or whatever would be helpful and I'll try to incorporate it in my story somehow and I'll give you credit! Just PM me the idea so the other people don't read the review and know what will happen next XD

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**Izaya's POV**

I would never say that any of my children are demons, but Kuro sure knows how to make someone's life hellish. I couldn't get much work done with him around and so the whole time I've been at the office I've been trying to make Kuro obey me, which hasn't worked out so well as far as I can tell. Right now he's sitting in the corner of the room kicking his feet playfully.

"Oi flea, we've brought…" Shizu-chan enters my office, which isn't really an office anymore what with all the books tossed around, papers on the floor, pen marks everywhere, a black patch of carpet missing from the small fire we had, and my computer glowing bright blue. "What the hell happened here?"

"Kuro happened…" I say as I feel drained of all my energy. I smack my head on my desk and try to take a nap. This day isn't even over yet…It's only two o'clock.

"Oh…"

"Hi Daddy!" Kuro says happily as I watch him attach himself to Shizu-chan's leg. "Being with Mommy is a lot of fun. He makes funny faces when I play." By "play" I'm sure he means "make trouble" and I do _not_ make funny faces. "Did you bring us lunch?"

"Yeah, this one's for you." Shizu-chan says as he hands a bento for Kuro and then approaches me. Shiro and Kuro talk amongst themselves, probably about their day. If anyone asked me how _my_ day was, I'd probably fling a knife at their head. Shizu-chan places the bag with two last bentos on my desk and smiles at me as he puts a hand on my shoulder. Ah, just the fact that he's touching me makes me feel comforted.

"You alright?" He asks as he brings a chair to my desk and sits close to me. I shake my head and run my fingers through my hair tiredly. "I didn't think so since you look so terrible." I push him playfully and smile at him. "Hang in there; it's only two more hours. Besides, he's your son. You don't want to just give up on him, do you?"

"No…of course not…" I say exhaustedly as I sigh. "Kuro and I _did_ have fun, but it's was just _too much_ fun for me." I say honestly as I take my bento out of the bag and begin eating my fatty tuna, which makes me feel even better.

"So…what are the costs of the damages?" Shizu-chan asks courageously. I laugh a little and then pat his hand.

"Even our house didn't cost this much." I say as I hold up the bill of the damages. Shizu-chan flinches and shakes his head. "I didn't know the cost of having a child was this much."

"Well, our children are unique." Shizu-chan laughs. "I hope your job can pay for more than half because I don't have a job that pays even half that much a year."

"Don't worry, I got this…it's my fault since I don't know how to handle him…" I say as I put my hands on the back on my head downheartedly. "I feel terrible…"

"You don't have to, all this stuff is covered and besides I'm kidding about not helping pay for a cut of the cost." Shizu-chan says as he rubs my back gently.

"No…not that…I mean, I'm Kuro's mother and I don't know how to handle him. I feel completely awful…Celty knows how to handle him…so does Hina…" I was about to say that either one of them would make better mother than me, but I know Shizu-chan very well and he'd never let me off the hook if I say that. But it's true. If I don't know how to handle my own son, then I'm not fit enough to be his mother.

"So? A lot of people don't know how to handle their children; sometimes parents have to alternate with them because one does better with the other child. The point is, we're doing this together and that's all that matters. You'll get used to handling Kuro in no time. He's just the type of kid you're not used to handling since you're more used to Shiro's type. But the truth is Kuro is a lot like you. Heck, he's like a reincarnation of you." Shizu-chan laughs and we both look over at Kuro who's playing with his rice.

"When did you become such a good husband and father?" I ask him lovingly.

"It's not something that happened over night; that's all I can say, but I'm still not perfect." Shizu-chan says as he begins eating.

"Well, you're perfect to me. My standards aren't that high, though." I say with a laugh as he hits me playfully. "So, how's your day been?"

"Well…" He hesitates and my motherly instincts kick in. I sure feel like a woman now and I'm not too pleased with that. I enjoy being motherly, but I can do without the hysteria and mood swings. Such traits must have lingered from when I was pregnant.

"Tell me what happened. I was with Kuro all day and I haven't have time to collect any information on anything, including what was happening with you and Shiro." I say as I feel myself getting worried. Shiro walks over to me and clings onto my shirt. I swing my arm around him and smile.

"Izaya, before you say anything. We're alright. Shinra checked us out—" Suddenly my emotions switch into overload.

"What happened?" I say a bit too hysterically.

"Well, there was…um…there this car…and…" Shizu-chan isn't too good at explaining things, especially to me. He gets kind of confused and slow.

"Dad saved me from a car that was gonna take a red light. He got knocked out…and then woke up and we went to Uncle Shinra's place." I try to calm down so I breathe in and then breathe out before sending Shiro and Kuro downstairs; this time telling Shiro to help Kuro to stay out of trouble. I rub my temples and put my head down on my desk. God, if I…if anything were to happen to Shiro or Kuro…I don't think I'd be able to go on…If anything were to happen to Shizu-chan I'd have to take care of my children on my own. Of course I'd be miserable without him, but we already promised each other that if something does happen to either of us, the other would go on for the kids. It's only right, but we both know that such a thing would be terribly miserable, not because the task of raising children by oneself is hard (which it is, but it's possible) but going on without the other would be horribly painful.

"Izaya, we're alright." Shizu-chan says as he puts my hand on my shoulder. "Shinra checked us out and we got the okay."

"The second I find that…asshole he's gonna be tortured inhumanely and then buried ten feet underground while still being alive." I say angrily as I pound my hand on the desk. "God…if anything ever happened…" I start to cry and I feel Shizu-chan embrace me and kiss my temple gently. He wipes my tears away with his thumb and kisses my lips.

"I know how you feel. I couldn't let something like that happen."

"God, you're…" I embrace him and cry into his chest. "You've always been a hero to me…despite what everyone else says…despite me always calling you a monster…I've never meant it…"

"Izaya…" Shizu-chan says as he holds my tighter. I can hear his heartbeat, a sound that always reassures me that he's with me. It's comforting to hear it, especially now. God, this is making me break down… "Thank goodness you're both alright."

"Oh, you know me…I'm pretty resilient. Besides, I've gotten hit by a truck before. Remember?" Shizu-chan says with a smile. "Let's continue eating before it gets cold." I wipe my own tears and try to recompose myself. I don't usually cry, but when it comes to my children and them being in harm's way, I can't suppress the tears. Such a scare makes me emotional.

After lunch, Shizu-chan and Shiro head out to go home, while Kuro and I are still stuck in my office, cleaning everything up. I sigh and vacuum most of the mess gloomily. Kuro helps out by picking up the books and reorganizing them on the shelf. By reorganizing I mean he throws them on the bookshelf randomly. Some are thrown with their spine facing up, some down. Some are just placed in awkward positions, but I don't mind so much. I just walk over and show him the more organized way of placing the books. He nods and begins copying my way.

"Mommy, are you mad at me…?" He suddenly asks me as he sits down in his little desk and kicks his feet as we take a break. He looks a bit downhearted and a bit remorseful, which is nice to see. He's not a sinister child, just a mischievous one.

"I suppose I was before…but I can't stay mad at you. Besides, you're just like me when I was younger."

"Really? I'm just like Mommy?" He asks happily. He looks as if he were glowing now.

"Yeah, I was a troublesome child. Your father was usually the one who I played pranks on. He usually got really mad, but in the end he forgave me, so I forgive you too." I say happily as I ruffle his hair.

"Mommy…" He says as his eyes get teary. He tackles me and clings onto me as he starts crying. In a way, I already know why Kuro does the things that he does. He's trying to get attention. I'm sure because I'm not the one who usually spends a lot of time with him, he feels a bit deprived of my love. So, he did all this so he could get my attention, even if I was more or less scolding him. "I like playing with Mommy."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he's really funny when he gets mad." Kuro says as he wipes his tears. "But Mommy doesn't play so much with me because Shiro always plays with you."

"I know that Shiro likes to be with me a lot, but that doesn't mean you can't ask me to play with you too." I say as I hold him.

"When we get home can you read me a story in the rocking chair like you used to?"

"I thought you said you were too old for that." I say with a smile. He shakes his head quickly and clings onto my shirt.

"No…I'm not…I'm still a kid…Mommy said that I'll always be his little boy, right?" Kuro asks with tears in his eyes. I pat his head before kissing his forehead and hugging him.

"Yup, you're always gonna be my little boy." I confirm happily. Of course Shiro is always gonna be my little boy too and Kuro knows this. But to him, he feels special even if I treat Shiro the same as him. He feels that he's special because he's the youngest. It might sound silly or selfish, but he deems himself the apple of my eye since he's the youngest and because he's so similar to how I used to be.

"Can you play me that song you used to play me?" He asks shyly.

"Right now?" I ask a bit nervously.

"Yeah." Kuro says as he walks over to the covered piano in the room. I keep it here because there's not much room back home anymore. I used to have it at home even after Kuro was born, but after a year or so after that we had to store it somewhere else. My office is that somewhere else. Kuro discovered where we had stored the piano long ago and he must have just remembered it was in the corner right now. He wasn't really in my office the whole day since he was pestering all the people in the lower floors.

I smile and head over to the uncovered piano. I sit down on the seat and pat the spot next to me. I haven't played it for maybe three years, but I can still remember the song I used to play for Shiro and Kuro when they were babies.

"I'll teach you the song so you can play it for me when I get too old to play." I tell him as I start playing the song.

"Mommy's not going to get old. He'll always be young to me, like I'll always be your little boy." He says happily. God…I feel like crying again.

I hope I can always spend time with my children like this. I don't want to ever lose these moments.

**Shizuo's POV**

Shiro and I make it back home without any trouble, so Izaya will be pleased. I really don't like to make Izaya worried or sad, but such things happen and they really hurt me. I've become really soft and cheesy. It makes me kind worried about if I can continue my job as a bodyguard for Tom. Then again, my temper will always be horribly unstable like Izaya's mentality.

"So, how about we take that bath?" I ask Shiro as I take off my coat and put it on the coat rack. Shiro shakes his head and lifts up his elbow and points at the bandage.

"I'm hurt."

"The bandage is waterproof. Celty made sure of it." I tell my son plainly. He shakes his head and holds onto his wound, blushing with a frightened face, looking like he feels vulnerable.

"Mom…Mom usually takes a bath _with_ me. Are you gonna do that?" He asks as he gets kind of teary eyed because of his fear. I flinch out of surprise. I really hadn't been prepared for such a statement. I don't give the kids baths so I don't know the routine. I really don't want to take a bath, so I don't see how this whole thing is gonna work out.

"Um…well…no actually I was just going to help you out." I say as I head into the bathroom and get everything set up.

"Can I wait until Mom gets home so he can take a bath with me?" Shiro asks me as he watches me get everything set up for his bath. I turn on the water and wait for the bathtub to fill up with lukewarm water.

"No, I think it's best if you start taking baths by yourself."

"That's why I like Mom better." He says as he tests the water with his hand, splashing the water a little.

"I know, I know…" I say sadly. "Let's just get you nice and clean before your mother gets back. He might scold me if he finds out I didn't keep my promise to bathe you." Izaya is known to scold me for things like that; he's especially critical about promises. I had promised a long time ago when we first got together in high school, that I'd always love him. Once he fled Ikebukuro and then six years later he returned, I had broken that promise, but I'd say for a solid reason (sort of). He was quite peeved about that, but things turned out okay so we don't really talked about that anymore.

"Alright, how about you get those dirty clothes off so I can wash them." I say as I turn off the water and help him with his shirt. He cooperates and helps me take off his shirt. "Let me get you a new set of clothes." He nods as I head off into his bedroom and get him clean clothes. When I get back he's only in his underwear, his pants are still in his hand, but he's kind of making an angry face.

"Look, I know mother treats you differently than I do, but that doesn't mean you have to give me a hard time about it."

"You're gonna tell Mom to not bathe with me anymore just like you told him to not let me sleep beside him even if I have nightmares." He says as he throws his pants in my face. He runs off and I'm forced to try and catch him and put him in the bathtub.

"Shiro!" I say as I try to catch him, but he's much too quick just like his mother used to be. Nowadays I'm sure I'd be able to catch Izaya if we started back into our old routine of trying to "kill" each other.

"No!" He says as he slides between my legs and heads out of the apartment. I head out and try to prevent him from heading downstairs or let any of our neighbors see him. First of all, he's in his underwear. Secondly, he's…in his _underwear_ and there's our elderly neighbor who has a faintish heart. One little scare and she's down for the count. I jump in front of Shiro, but lose my balance and accidently fall down the stairs…two flights of stairs before making it to the bottom. I rub the back of my head when I come to and then try to get up. I'm not as quick on my feet as I used to be.

I head back up the stairs, a bit ticked off by what just happened. Such a thing could have been prevented. I'm not so furious towards my son, but nevertheless my anger level has risen and I need to find a way to get it down again. I pace back and forth like I usually do, cursing loudly in my head. Then, tryingt to breathe in and out like Shinra told me to do. I feel somewhat better, but I really wish I could punch something.

"Dad, are you mad at me?" Shiro suddenly asks as he stands at a reasonable distance away from me, probably trying to avoid any close contact.

"No…I just got mad at myself for letting that happen…" I say as I suddenly feel a bit calmer.

"Someone once told me that you got so mad one day that you ripped a stop sign from the ground." Shiro says as he looks at the ground. "You're not gonna do something like that, are you?"

"No…I wouldn't do that…I know it's hard to believe but I'm not that kind of man anymore." I say as I pat the spot next to me. He walks over to me and stays silent beside me. "Are you gonna cooperate now?"

"No…" He says simply. "You're trying to separate Mom and me. Bath time is all I have left now."

"I'm not trying to separate the two of you. I'm just trying to get you to be a little more independent." I say simply. "Meaning, I want you to be a little more of a big boy."

"I don't want to be a big boy. I'm still little." Shiro says with a pout. I sigh and ruffle his hair before picking him up and dragging him to the bathroom.

"Big boy or not, you're taking your bath." I say as I carry him to the bathtub while Shiro resists by kicking and hitting me. I take off his underwear and put him in the tub gently. I then pour water on his head before putting shampoo in the palm of my hand.

"Ne, ne I don't wanna!" He says as he rubs his eyes to rid them of the water. To tell you the truth, this is the only time I've ever seen him react in such numerous ways. Seeing these expressions on my son's face is reassuring. I'm not completely excluded from seeing them. I roll up my sleeves and get to work. This is a much more difficult job than being a bodyguard, in my opinion. Children can be formidable opponents, sometimes without even meaning to (quite scary).

After a while he stops struggling and allows me to scrub him and clean his hair. I keep him busy with his toy boat and rubber ducky which I'm told by his mother that he loves a lot.

"Maybe in a couple weeks we can go to the barber. You're hair is getting pretty long." I say as I get him out of the tub when I'm finish rinsing his body. I put a towel over him and then one over his head and start rubbing it on his hair to try and get it dry. "What do you say about that?"

"Why…why don't _you_ cut it? Isn't that what dads do?" Shiro asks shyly. I suddenly smile and nod to him before I continue to dry his hair off. I then hand him his clean underwear and shirt. I help him put on his shirt and then give his new overalls that Izaya bought him not too long ago. Izaya says he looks really "adorable" in them and I can't say I disagree. When he finally gets fully dressed, I feel quite pleased with how he looks. I let him escape from the bathroom and then tell him to brush his hair while it's still a bit wet.

"Dad, you didn't get hurt from falling down the stairs?" Shiro suddenly asks me as I lie down on the couch. I open my eyes, which I had closed to relax and then smile to myself.

"No, I'm fine son." I say as I close my eyes again. "It would take more than stairs to bring your old man down." Shiro suddenly looks at the door and smells the air. He smiles and shakes me.

"Mom's home!" I get up and wonder what it is that makes him say that.

"What gives you that idea?" I ask as I get up and take off my shoes.

"I can smell him." Smell him? Must be Izaya's flea stench still clinging onto him. I guess Shiro is more like me than I think. I mean, I was the one who used to smoke cigarettes, but to me Izaya's smell was more noticeable than that lingering smell of tobacco. Of course, I kicked that habit a long time ago before the kids were born. I didn't smoke in front of Izaya when he was pregnant either. It took me a long time to completely kick it off though. Things are never easy.

I suddenly hear the doorknob rattle from Izaya's key getting inserted and then see Kuro and him entering our humble abode.

"We're back~!" Izaya states cheerfully. "Guess who made a lot of trouble on the way here?"

"Kuro…what did you do now?" I ask Kuro as he jumps into my lap. He hugs me cutely and looks up at me with a remorseful look on his face.

"Well, that depends on what you want to hear about first." Izaya says with a laugh. "Do you want to hear about what happened to Simon when we met up with him on the street? Or do you want to hear about what happened with the at the water fountain? Or maybe you want to hear about the incident that happened downstairs before we came up here?" While asking me all these questions, Izaya seems to keep his usual, calm composure. He doesn't look too stressed, but I know that he's just trying to mask his true feelings.

"Ah, we can talk about all that later. I bet Shiro can cheer you up. He just took a bath." I state happily as Shiro heads over to tackle his mother's leg. Izaya kneels down and hugs Shiro happily.

"Today wasn't so bad, though. Kuro and I had a great time together despite the fact that my office almost burned down…"

"I didn't mean to." Kuro adds in shyly. "I just wanted to play with the candles…"

"Candles?"

"The electricity went out because Kuro was playing with the box, so I had my secretary get me some candles. Then Kuro was curious about how the candles worked and one accidently fell and caught the carpet on fire. Oh, and then there was the matter with the permanent marker drawings in the elevator, and on my computer and on the walls, and even on some guy's suit. He wasn't too happy about it. Did I mention that Kuro also clogged the bathrooms downstairs and upstairs?"

"Wow…um…you were really busy today, Kuro." I say with a laugh. Izaya suddenly glares at me so I nod and pull Kuro close to me. "Listen, all that stuff you did today was very bad. You know Mommy and Daddy have to pay for all that, right?"

"I thought that all that stuff belonged to Mommy and that everything could be fixed no problem."

"Eh, the real world doesn't work that way. And Mommy only owns the small office where he told you not to leave."

"I didn't know…" Kuro says as he starts to cry.

"Go apologize to Mommy." I whisper in his ear. He nods and runs over to Izaya to hug his leg. Although Izaya might seem stern and mature, his children make him completely soft. He can't do much yelling at them, so he leaves it to me to do most of the disciplining. He usually just gives them a very long talk about what they've done wrong and how they can be better in the future.

"I'm sorry Mommy…" Kuro says sadly.

"It's alright…but you know you're gonna have to be punished, right?"

"Yeah…no TV for a week." I say sternly as I get up and head into the kitchen. Izaya follows me and begins telling me about some of the other stuff that happened during work.

"The two of you can head up to your rooms and we'll call you when dinner's ready, okay?" Izaya tells them both before they nod and do as they're told. "Long day for you too, I presume?"

"I fell down the stairs before you got here."

"What the—how the hell did you do that? I don't remember you being so clumsy."

"Shiro didn't want to take his bath and ran out of the apartment in his underwear. I didn't remember the stairs were there at the time and fell down them." I explain as I rub the back of my head. "I'm okay, but it sure didn't feel good rolling down those two flights of stairs and hitting the concrete once I got down."

"Jeez…sounds like we're both gonna be sore in the morning." Izaya says with a laugh.

"I can admit that Shiro didn't do such troublesome things as Kuro. Are you alright?"

"I'm alive at least."

"Hmm, you don't look like you're gonna be alive much longer though. You look like you just got run over by a truck after getting beat up by a gorilla and then were forced to watch re-runs of some anime packed with fillers and reoccurring themes."

"I feel like all that happened to me and then I feel like after all that, I had to give birth twelve times in a row…" Izaya says as he collapses on the couch, face first. "I can't believe the people who have more than four kids…I mean I suppose even after having Shiro and Kuro I'd completely dismiss the idea of having two more like I'd originally planned, but the thought is still lingering in my mind, even after all this happened to me today…But just the thought of people having more than four kids makes me want to take a lot of pain killers."

"Heh, I know." Don't get us wrong. Children are great; at the end of the day when you get to tuck them in and they look like little angels, it's all worth it. But, sometimes parenting is a job that takes a lot of stamina that some people don't possess and it's just better to take things in moderation.

"I would kill you right if you asked me if I wanted to have sex. I'm dead serious." Izaya says as he sighs. I laugh a little and then begin to massage his back. Thankfully the kids can't hear us.

"I'll take care of dinner and bedtime." I offer as I continue to massage Izaya's back.

"I don't want to dump all that work on you after the day you just had. You got hit by a car and then fell down the stairs."

"I'm built strong. I'm fine. You should rest. I can carry you upstairs and then take your dinner up there for you." I tell him happily.

"Now you're making me want to have sex with you." Izaya says with a laugh. "Alright then, I'll take your offer." I smile as he puts his arms around my neck and allows me to pick him up bridal style. I carry him upstairs carefully and watch him as he suddenly falls asleep in my arms. I place him on our bed and cover him with our sheets.

I head downstairs and begin to prepare dinner. I'm sure I have a lot to go before Shiro warms up to me, but I'm not one to quit. Despite whatever Izaya says about me quitting on our love after he disappeared, I really didn't quit. I fought my desire to still believe in our love, but I never quit believing in it altogether. I'm not quitting on my son either. I want this family to be whole.

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A/N: A little OOC I suppose, but it's intentional since they're sort of different as parents. Shizuo being a bit more calm and Izaya a bit more motherly. Anyway, please please review ^^ Also, if there's any mistakes please forgive me and you can tell me if it's super bothersome and inexcusable. **THANK YOU ALL WHO READ REVIEW FAVORITE AND WHATNOT. YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU! (TOTALLY NOT IN A CREEPY WAY THOUGH XD) ALSO I LOVE ALL CAPS TODAY SO SORRY IF THIS BUGS YOU!**


	6. Let Me Tell You A Story

I hope you all enjoy. I'm back on track with the updating everyday thing ^^ I'm feeding my obessessions so I'm not having withdrawal symptoms. Anyone who says obessessing over animes and anime characters is unhealthy might be right, but I love anime so GRR! Anyway, please enjoy and review so I can have the motivation to continue! Back to the story!

Warnings: sadness, possible OOC, sweetness, multiple POVs (sorry if you hate it jumping around so much but I like showing other people's perspectives, tell me in the comments what you think about that if you can)

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After that hellish day, I had to get back to work the next day. I really wanted to spend more time with my sons, but Tom needs me and I can't let him down. Izaya is busy at work too so I'm taking the kids to Shinra's so they can have fun there (and probably make a mess of Shinra's place, which is always a bonus, sarcastically speaking). I'm kind of hesitant of leaving my kids with Shinra, not because I think he'd do anything shady (Celty would never allow him to even touch my kids), but because I feel like Shinra and Celty are becoming more of Shiro and Kuro's parents each time I send them over, which is usually during the week.

Izaya is really paranoid about it too. He tells me every now and again about the fear and then reminds me of some show he watched where a mother had that happen to her. I really do understand the fear, but I don't think our kids would do that because they're really attached to us. They always dread going to Shinra's place even if they do love Shinra and Celty.

"Daddy, can we go with you to work instead?" Kuro asks as he walks beside me while Shiro walks on the other side.

"I'm sorry boys, you're gonna have to stay at Uncle Shinra's place for the time being. Celty is gonna be really happy. She told me yesterday that she loves you two visiting." I explain to Kuro happily. Sure Celty loves the two kids, probably because Shinra and her don't have children of their own.

"I don't want to go to Uncle Shinra's place…I want to be with you or Mommy…" Kuro says sadly.

"I know…but Mommy and I have to go to work and nobody is gonna be at the house." I explain sternly. If I had a more appropriate job where I didn't lose my temper every five minutes, then I'd gladly take my kids along, but being a bodyguard isn't exactly an ideal job. I mean it pays decently, but I really don't want to take my kids to places where Tom's clients only complain and lie and then have myself lose my temper in front of my children.

When we get to Shinra's apartment, I have Kuro knock on the door. Celty opens the door and I can tell, even though she doesn't have a head, she's really happy to see us. She pats Shiro and Kuro's heads and types down on her PDA to sit down. I tell her I have to get to work. This is sort of our routine; they're our babysitters (well usually Celty is since Shinra works, but sometimes he helps), so we don't even have to keep asking them if they can watch the kids. Celty's always home since Shinra's the only who works now. Izaya and I pay Celty to babysit since she's usually the one who's around to do so.

The boys already know that Celty doesn't have a head, but she keeps her helmet on whenever they're around anyway, probably because she feels embarrassed. The whole discovery came about on accident when Kuro, Shiro and I were visiting. Kuro was playing with his ball and had thrown it against the wall a bit too hard and had knocked Celty's helmet off. The boys' reactions weren't too extreme. I suppose that they thought it was cool. I was just glad they didn't freak out and make Celty feel bad.

When I asked them what they thought about Celty now, they just told me that they still love Aunt Celty. It really warmed my heart and her heart when I told her. I bet if she had her head, she'd be crying that day.

"You two behave now." I say as I head out. I never know what goes on with them when I leave and I'm hoping it's nothing too disastrous, but Celty usually tells me that everything goes pretty well and that there's never anything to worry over. I just don't want to get stuck with a big bill like I always do whenever I take my kids out somewhere. Apart they're really not that bad, but together it's like they can take any home and they can turn it into a madhouse.

**Celty's POV**

I'm really glad the Heiwajima kids are here. It gets kind of lonely here at home whenever Shinra leaves for work. What's more is that they really are good kids, though they can be a handful. Shinra doesn't usually interact with them so much when they come here to be babysat. When he is here, he likes to joke around about him giving them checkups and taking blood samples. I hit him in the gut whenever he says that.

"Aunt Celty…can we play that game you always play with us?" Kuro, the younger of the two asks me as he clings onto me. Kuro might be sweet a lot of the time, but he's one hell of a mischievous boy. One time we had gone out into town to pick up some groceries. Yeah, that wasn't my best idea. Kuro and Shiro ran off and then started making a mess of the aisles. I had to pay for the damages, but then Shizuo paid me back. Such a disaster didn't make me love the kids any less though. They're still very kind.

[Alright who wants to go first?] I write down on my PDA and show it to them. It's actually nice; my PDA serves two purposes when they're around. It helps me communicate and it helps them learn to read. It's nice to look on the brighter sides of things.

"Shiro, you can go first." Kuro says to his brother as he waits for the game to start. I nod and with my black aura I make a figure and have Shiro guess what it is. It's a game that serves two purposes; it teaches and it keeps the two boys occupied for an hour or so. Whoever has more wins from guessing correctly is the winner; that's how this game is played. Kuro usually wins since he's very deceptive, which reminds me of his mother.

"A donkey?" I shake my head. Kuro writes down on a whiteboard his and his brother's names so he can count the points.

"A telephone?" Kuro asks as he looks at it carefully. I shake my head again. This can take quite a long time before anyone guesses the right answer, which is fine by me as long as they don't destroy anything, I'm happy.

"A gorilla?" I shake my head again. I can't really explain this feeling within me as I'm here playing this silly game with these kids. Shinra says that it's all a part about being human which makes me happy. I really love these kids and I hope that I stay in touch with them for a long time (or as long as Izaya allows me to). These days I really do feel Izaya is worrying a lot. I can sense that he's worrying over the fact that he's spending less and less time with his children. And I don't blame him over worrying over something like that. He watches a lot of drama series though. I'm sure he's overreacting and I can just imagine the ordeal Shizuo has to go with. I see Izaya now and again, but Shizuo has to deal with him every day; maybe not every second of everyday, but either way it's still a lot.

I never really understood why they got together in the first place. It was like one of the great mysteries of the world…Kuro says it's like the mystery of how chips sometimes resemble famous people. I just think it's strange, but then again if it wasn't for them getting together I would never had the opportunity to meet these two boys sitting before me. They resemble their parent's a lot; Kuro being the more mischievous of the two and Shiro being the more stern and robust one. Shiro has his dad's stubbornness and Kuro has his mother's calm, curious nature. They're like little mini copies.

I contemplate this for a while as the boys continue guessing the various figures I make with my black aura. After a while, Kuro finally wins again. Shiro isn't a sore loser though and so he brushes the game off completely and asks if they could watch TV. I say yes and allow them to fiddle with the remote. They don't argue over what to watch though, which is supposed to be normal for siblings, right? Hmm, everything I read in books seems to be inaccurate, for these kids at least. I need to buy new books.

"Last time on Alien Hunt!" The TV announces loudly. Kuro smiles and claps as he sets down the remote. He tugs at my suit and smiles at me with his cat-like grin.

"It's our favorite show!"

[You don't think those kinds of things really exist, do you kids?] I ask them nervously. Of course I probably am not going to be reassured by what these kids tells me, but I just want to be comforted I suppose.

"Yeah we do, even if Daddy says it's…it's…what was the word that Daddy said, Shiro?" Shiro's about to answer when I wave my arms frantically. I rather not allow the kids to remember such language let alone think it's alright to mimic it. "Well anyway…if aliens did suddenly appear Daddy would probably knock them out."

[You're right…It's just…it freaks me out a bit…]

"Don't worry Aunt Celty; we won't let some dumb aliens get you. Besides Daddy would never let them hurt you or anybody." Kuro reassures me as he smiles. "We can watch something else if you want."

[No, it's alright.] I type on my PDA.

To tell you the truth, talking with Shiro and Kuro makes me feel better. They're still young so I don't talk to them about a lot of adult issues I have, just small things. It's nice to talk to them because they're quite smart so they'll sometimes give me advice on things. Ah, no wonder Izaya is so attached to them. They _are_ his children after all. He's really different than he was before, but it's expected since he's a mother now. I really like teasing him about that since it's not a nature type you would expect coming from the Great Izaya Orihara—I mean—the Great Izaya _Heiwajima_. Shizuo is one lucky guy.

**Izaya's POV**

Paperwork…more paperwork…bills…that big scorch mark on the carpet. I have to tidy everything up. Yesterday I didn't get any work done with Kuro around, but I'm not mad about it. It's not like I had any clients to meet with anyway.

I have a photo on my desk which has a family picture in it. It really makes me happy, along with the name plate beside it which reads "Izaya Heiwajima." Ah, Shizu-chan must be at work right now and the kids are with "Uncle Shinra" and "Aunt Celty." I really miss being there for my children. I wish I could be a stay-at-home mom, but I do enjoy having this job, despite getting some shady characters. But, it's nothing I can't handle.

Now that I think about it…it's almost me and Shizu-chan's anniversary. I already got him a gift a while back. I'm always prepared. Shizu-chan always buys me something wonderful, which surprises me sometimes that he knows me so well. It's just discouraging that our family is ripping at the seams. Last night Shizu-chan and I discussed the ever-growing problem with Shiro's attachment towards me. He was none-too pleased with the news he had received from Shiro yesterday afternoon about the whole bath time routine, but I do the same with Kuro so I don't see what the problem is.

"_You're babying him too much…" Shizu-chan says as he runs his fingers through his hair. "I know it might hurt him, but you have to stop taking baths with him or letting him sleep here with us. You have to draw a line otherwise he's gonna have trouble at school. Heck, he might not even want to go…" _

I know in my heart such things are true. I do baby him a bit too much. If I wasn't so emotional nowadays, I'd probably be able to stand my ground and discipline Shiro more, but such a task is beyond me now that I've become…soft…Gah, I hate admitting it, but it's true. I'm not like that so much with Shizu-chan, though from time to time my emotions seem to override my manly bravado.

For my birthday Shizu-chan took me out to a nice restaurant and then we went to a hotel to spend the night and to do…other things…Shiro and Kuro stayed with Shinra and Celty for that night. It was tough on me to leave my children, but I really missed spending time with Shizu-chan. I feel the same way right now. He and I don't get to spend too much time together. I'm hoping that for our anniversary, Shizu-chan will take me out and give me the much needed attention I deserve (and the much needed attention my body deserves).

**Shizuo's POV**

I don't remember feeling this sore in my life. Even after I had been hit by that truck a long time ago, the soreness wasn't _this_ bad…The cost of having children: indefinable soreness of the body. Eh, it's not that bad of a cost, but it still hurts. Kuro and Shiro like hanging out with Celty and Shinra, but they prefer being with Izaya and me. I'm hoping they're doing alright.

"You okay, Shizuo?" Tom asks me as he waves his hand in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh…oh yeah, I'm fine…"

"How are the kids?" Tom asks with a smile.

"Still as troublesome as ever." I tell him with a smile. "But I wouldn't want it any other way."

"That's what I like to hear." Tom says with a nod. "Your anniversary is coming up, right? Did you get your princess a gift?"

"If Izaya heard you call him a princess he'd throw a damn knife at your head." I add in with a laugh. "I got him something already. I always dodge a bullet every anniversary."

"Hmm?"

"I'm always thinking that he's not going to like the gift, but it always turns out that he loves everything I've given him. Can you believe that?"

"You must be doing _something_ right." Tom says with a laugh. "Oh right, I met up with Kasuka yesterday and he said if I could give you a letter…so…here." He hands me a small envelope with a letter inside so I open it and read it.

_Think back when you were a kid and hated how you had that strength. Then think of how Shiro must feel not knowing what to do. Comfort him and teach him how to control it and how to feel proud about it. Don't leave him in the dark and dismiss his feelings. _

_Love Kasuka_

_P.S. Izaya told me about how you failed to mention how Kuro doesn't quite like me. I hope that you can visit sometime so I can change that. _

Why does he always sound so intelligent?

"Mind telling me what it said? I've been curious about it." Tom asks as he puts his hands in his pockets.

"He told me to stop being so blind and stupid." I say as I smile as I look up at the sky.

**Celty's POV**

After playing cards, eating lunch and then going to the park to play with a frisbee Kuro finally went to sleep when we got back. His brother, however, is always another story; if it's not one, it's the other. But, I was kind of hoping to talk with Shiro alone since I really want to ask him about what issues he has with his father. I've been quite worried since Shizuo is a good friend and I know that he's been stressing out about his son not liking him.

I sit on the couch after putting Kuro to bed. He's napping right now and like his father, he's a heavy sleeper. Shiro is a light sleeper like his mother that's why I'm told by Izaya that he has grown accustomed to sleeping with him so he doesn't have nightmares thus separating Shizuo and him from being closer in bed. Their love life, I assume, is therefore faulting.

Shiro is sitting comfortable on the couch, flipping the channels on the TV. I sit beside him and tap his shoulder to get his attention. He turns to me and asks me what it is I want, but not in a rude way.

[Are you in love with your mother?] I know it's a crazy question to ask so abruptly—to ask at all really, but it's still possible. Shiro puts his hands in his lap and blushes as he looks at the floor.

"N-no I don't. Why would you ask that?" Shiro asks nervously.

[Well, you seem to really not like your father, especially when he's around your mother.] I write simply.

"It's not that…" Shiro says as he clenches his pants in his lap. "My dad…"

[Your dad what?] I'm really terrified that maybe something happened between his mother and his father that he witnessed, even though I know fairly well that Shizuo wouldn't dare hurt Izaya despite him occasionally fighting with him.

"Dad is a monster right?" He asks me all of a sudden.

[Your dad isn't a monster. Everyone has their flaws, but your father has learned to live with them and accept them. So has your mother. He loves your father no matter what. And you know that, don't you.] It wasn't really meant to be a question, more like a noted fact.

"I know…but Mom deserves better…" He states vehemently. "This is not like some story book…a monster shouldn't be with Mom…I know everything that happened between them…I know about what Dad is…Mom needs someone better who won't hurt him one day. I know that one day Dad will go crazy and try and hurt Mom and I don't want that to happen. Mom needs someone who will really love him and won't ever hurt him. And besides it's his fault I'm like he is. I'm a monster but…I would never hurt Mom…"

[So you're saying that you're scared your mother will be hurt one day by your father? And that you want your mother to find someone else who will love him enough to be in control of themselves? Maybe you're trying to be that someone for your mother?] I must have hit the nail on the head because he sort of flinched and clenched at his pants more tightly and then tears started to stream down from his eyes. I make a handkerchief from my black aura, but he refuses to take it.

"I'll be there for Mom no matter what and I'll never hurt him…Even if I'm a monster like Dad…I'd never hurt Mom, but I'm just trying to keep Mom away from Dad so he doesn't get hurt…" Shiro explains. It's obvious to me now that he's not doing this because he's in love with his mother. He's scared of his father and he wants to do everything in his power to protect him. And he wants to replace his father's "faulting" love with his own, not the type of love one gets from a lover, but something equivalent. "You won't tell anyone will you, Auntie?"

[No, your secret is safe with me.] I say as I pat his head. [But _you_ should tell your mother and father.]

"What will that do?"

[It will help them understand you better. They're terribly confused and worried about you. You do know that you're mother really wants you to love your father too, right?]

"I've always known that…I just can't do it though. Even if Dad saved me yesterday…it just proves to me that he's really strong and if he does get mad at Mom, I won't be able to stop him. So, I'm trying to keep it from happening." Shiro says sadly. "You don't hate me, do you Auntie?"

[No, of course not.] I type down honestly. [Let me tell you a story though. Will you just listen to me?]

"Okay…" Shiro says nervously.

So…I told him the story of how is father and mother first met (the story that Shinra had told me so I would better understand their relationship). I told him about every single moment they had with each other and even told him all bad stuff they had gone through together. And though I know I was supposed to…I told him the story about the most crucial days Shiro had spent in the hospital because he was very sick after he was born.

"Why…why was I sick?" Shiro asks sadly.

[Shinra and the other doctors that he works with weren't sure, but they thought that you weren't going to make it. You're mother was also not feeling well so he couldn't visit you while you were in a separate room, but he knew what was going on. Your father…your father was really depressed about it...everyday he'd visit you and hold your hand and pray that you would be alright. He cried for you. He prayed. He even got so angry that one day when Shinra and I were there, he picked Shinra up by his collar and said "Don't you dare let my son die! I don't care what it takes; just make sure my son lives through this."] I pause and feel something pull at my heartstring as I remember his face when he had threatened Shinra. He was crying, but still able to get mad like that. [After that, Shinra looked far and wide for a doctor that could so something for you. This is why your father had to get a second job to pay for all the expenses. He didn't mind it though because he was just happy if you got help, which you finally did. And now you're the healthy boy you are today.]

There was something in Shiro's eyes that wasn't there before. I could tell he wanted to cry, that he wanted his father right here to apologize to, but he couldn't do that just yet. He seemed like he felt that accepting his father would mean he'd betray his mother and more importantly he doubted that this meant that his father was incapable of hurting his mother, but I still felt something changed in him.

After a couple more hours, Shizuo finally came to pick them up before dinner. I was pleased with how Shiro greeted his father when he had entered. He had embraced him so passionately; one would have thought he had fallen in love with him. Such a thing is ridiculous though. There are still some bumps in the road for that family, but I doubt they'll give up.

Before they left I sent Shizuo a text message. I really hope he understands.

**Shizuo's POV**

Something's different about my son. As I'm walking with Shiro and Kuro now, I sense something different in Shiro that wasn't there before. He had hugged me when I went to go pick him and his brother up from Shinra's place.

My phone suddenly rings, indicating I've received a message, so I fish it out of my pocket and read it.

_Life is full of perspectives, good and bad. Even when you're not trying to, you make an image of yourself through your words and actions. Help people understand and accept you, including your family._

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A/N: That tugged at my heartstrings while I was writing it. Shizuo is such a good father and husband! TT~TT Please review and tell what you thought about it ^^ Also, if anyway wants to give me some ideas of what to write about in the next chapter or whatever or what you really want to read, please send me a PM. Anyway thank you to all my readers, reviews, favoriters I LOVE YOU ALL!


	7. Understanding the Truth

Sorry I didn't upload a chapter yesterday...even after I said I was back to updating everyday. I had some work I was doing and it took me a lot of time and other stuff happened...Anyway, I'm really sorry! Here's the next chapter! Thank you **anon** reviewer and **mika siam 71192** giving me ideas for this chapter and the next chapter. You guys are super. (Gives a big star patch) XD It's going to be more cheerful in the next few chapters, but the problems aren't done. I think they have one more final problem to go through before I continue this story with final, happy chapters. So, if you want to read something really badly and you have the idea send me PM and I'll make the idea fit and I'll give you credit and a star patch! (a virtual one, but hey, you know how the internet goes XD) Thank you everyone!

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A couple weeks went by and Shiro and my relationship has gotten a little better since that one day that I left him and his brother over at Shinra's. Celty must have said something to him to persuade him, but she won't tell what it was. Shinra said he wasn't there when the two had their little talk so he's of no help. Well, whatever she told him really worked. He's been a bit more open to me about things. When I get home from work, I have Kuro attacking my leg and Shiro steps a little closer than he used to and allows me to get closer to him and pat his head. He won't show as much affection as Kuro, but he's getting there.

It's been a long while since Izaya has gotten time off and he finally got to pencil in sometime today for our kids. I have to go to work today so I'm leaving them with him. He's a competent mother despite him working a lot. He's taking them out walking into Ikebukuro to run a few errands, so I'm hoping things won't get too hectic.

"Well, good luck with the two rascals." I say as I allow Izaya to finish fixing my tie. He pats my shoulder before kissing my cheek.

"Thanks, I'm gonna really need it." Izaya says as he kneels down to fix Kuro's overalls that he keeps unbuckling. Shiro is wearing the same overalls like his brother. They look like twins but they're a year and seven months apart. Izaya just likes to make them look cute. "Aren't they adorable?"

"You really get carried away with the whole dressing them up thing…They're not Barbie dolls, you know that right?" I ask him as I kneel down and hold out my arms so that they can both hug me. Kuro does so right away and Shiro waits a few seconds before doing the same as his brother. He's still a bit hesitant with giving me affection, but as I've said before it's an improvement. "Don't let your mother ever put you in costumes." I whisper into their ears. I'm sure Izaya would try it too. He's a bit more soft and emotional so he's stranger than he ever was, but these are just short, small moments. All the other times, he's the same psycho I had the balls (and lacked the brain) to marry.

"Okay Daddy." Kuro agrees as he blushes, trying to look as cute as possible. I sigh and laugh a little. I know what he wants and I'm sure I'll tell him that I'll get it for him when he asks for it.

"What it is Kuro?" I ask him with a smile.

"Uncle Tom said that he was gonna get me something really nice for my birthday. What is it!" He asks happily. If you haven't noticed by now, everyone our kids know are either addressed as "uncle" or "aunt." And Kuro's birthday is coming up. It's September 2nd, so it's about a month and a half away. Izaya's and my anniversary is about a week away. I've got a lot of stuff to plan. What's today? June 16th, I think. I still have plenty of time. I've got all the preparations for our anniversary, which will make things a lot easier for me. Izaya believes me to be quite disorganized, which I usually am, but for stuff that's really important to me, I don't mess around.

"I'm not sure. You'll just have to wait and find out." I say with a smile. He pouts and sighs loudly. "Well, I better get to work. I'll see you guys around dinner time." I say before heading out. I hope Izaya will be alright with the kids and sure hope he doesn't spoil them like he usually does.

**Izaya's POV**

Truly this is a wonderful day to take my kids out. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, something else or rather. Anyway, the point is I'm pretty happy that today I'll be spending time with my children. I know this town is a bit dangerous sometimes, but I know how to defend my children if necessary. Shizu-chan knows full well that I have my switchblade on me at all times.

"Now then, since we're going out, I want you two to wear some sunscreen and a hat." I say to them as I take the container of sunscreen and begin to squeeze it. When it doesn't come out I start to shake it, thus causing it to spill on the floor. "Hmm…we'll have your father clean that up later." I say as I wipe most of it off. "That way he can vacuum the whole house while he's at it."

"But I thought Dad hated vacuuming…" Shiro reminds me shyly.

"He does. That's why I love giving him that job." I say happily. I start putting the sunscreen on my sons' faces, arms, and legs and then put their hats on. I know I'm being quite not like myself, but I'm a mother now, so I'm officially a changed man. But that doesn't mean I don't act like my old self. "Let's go, kids." I say as I open the door for them. Kuro is the one who runs out the door, while Shiro just walks out like an obedient little boy. Kuro is a rambunctious little guy, but I love that about him. Even if he trashed my office, it was a bit fun making my secretary Namie to clean it all up; which reminds me that our first stop is going to by my office.

I allow my kids to have the liberty to walk around town beside me, but keeping them fairly close to me so they don't get kidnapped. What? It could happen right before my eyes.

"Mommy…you're not mad about me making a mess in your office?"

"Nonsense, my secretary was glad she had something to do." I lie happily. Of course she hated to clean up after my son, but I don't really care. "Anyway, we're gonna go see her right now."

"Maybe I should say I'm sorry?" Kuro asks shyly.

"No need. She loves cleaning. It was like a big game to her." It was a big game for _me_ to watch her having a miserable time.

"Okay." Kuro says as he drops the subject.

"Is that Uncle Mikado over there?" Shiro asks as he points. I look over to where my son is pointing and notice that it is Mikado standing near the entrance of Russian Sushi with his two friends. "Can we go say hello before we go to your office, Mom?" Shiro has always had a sort of an affinity for talking to his "aunts" and "uncles." Kuro also has this same affinity, but to a deeper intensity as Shiro.

"Go on, we have time." I say as I let my two boys hurry on to talk with their "uncles" and "aunt." I catch up to them at a slower pace as I'm checking my messages on my phone. There are a of couple messages here from Shizu-chan telling me to have a good day and that he loves me, which makes me happy.

"Mikado! Nice to see you." I say as I approach him and his friends. Kuro and Shiro are clinging onto Mikado's legs persistently. Mikado already knows my children pretty well. He knows not to underestimate Kuro and he also knows not make Shiro upset.

"Ah, Izaya-kun…I didn't know you were walking around town like this. It's a nice surprise." Mikado says a bit shyly. "Kuro and Shiro sure are lively."

"Only when it comes to seeing people they like." I say simply.

"How's Shizuo doing?" Anri asks me nicely.

"Ah, just fine, but he's gonna be pretty upset tomorrow when you see him." I say with a laugh.

"And why is that? Are you making him angry like old times?" Kida asks.

"Yeah I guess so." I admit plainly. "Just giving you guys a heads up, that's all."

"My birthday is coming up soon." Kuro says happily. "Daddy said that Tom's gift is gonna be a surprise."

"Ah, right, what are you really looking forward to for your birthday, Kuro-kun?" Mikado asks as he kneels down to Kuro's level.

"I want binoculars just like Mommy has. He uses them to spy on people." He says cutely. I immediately take him away from the group, straddling him in my arms and patting his head while laughing to try and hide what my son just said.

"Children, always making up stories." I say with a nervous laugh. "Anyway, we were just heading off to go see Namie. So, we'll be off. Say goodbye to everyone kids." I say as I take my children's hands and head off in the direction of my work place. Mikado and his two friends must be confused, but I won't worry about that. But, it's true what my son had revealed to those three, I do still partake in my old habits. Humans are wonderfully interesting, so why not watch them? Shizu-chan thinks it's creepy. He always thought it was creepy and yet he married me. Love seems to have no boundaries I suppose and Shizu-chan has good taste. I mean, I am the most desirable creature ever. Shizu-chan would disagree if I ever said that in a conversation with him, but he only does that because that's his way of flirting. What a tease.

"Mommy, how come we couldn't stay and talk with Uncle Mikado and the rest?" Kuro asks as he presses the number twelve button once we all get into the elevator. Thankfully, he's being a good boy so far. He didn't press all the buttons like last time.

"Ah, those three are super busy." I state simply as I wave my hand, motioning that it's nothing special to worry over or to think about.

"But they looked like they were just standing there…" Kuro points out smartly.

"Standing is still something they're doing, so they _were_ busy, son." I say with a laugh. Once we get out of the elevator, Namie greets us with a scowl and particularly at my son Kuro.

"You're back…" She sighs disappointedly. "Aren't you supposed to be on your day off?" She asks with an annoyed expression. I nod and tell her that I just came to get something from my office.

"Make sure your son doesn't make a mess of anything in there again. It took me hours just to clean up _half_ of the room." I laugh a little and pat her shoulder.

"Such a complainer." I say with a smile. "Come Kuro, Shiro." I say as I allow them to enter my office. Shiro runs over to my desk and looks at my name plate. He picks it up and reads it aloud.

"Izaya Heiwajima." He says slowly. He then notices the picture frame on my desk and grabs it carefully. He looks at it and notices that it's a family photo taken a while back. He suddenly asks me why we haven't taken a new family photo.

"Well…I guess we haven't had the time." I say as I grab my bag that I left here yesterday. "Let me just give some of these papers to Namie and we'll be off to the stores, okay?" Kuro and Shiro both nod and continue to fiddle with things I have laying around, things that weren't broken by Kuro, that is.

"Namie, you don't have to be so mad at my dear Kuro." I say as I hand her some paperwork.

"I'd say that whole mess only happened because you don't have control over your own children. You're not a very good mother, if you ask me." She spat vehemently. I suddenly look surprised; this expression is not one I usually wear in front of her, let alone anyone else except for Shizu-chan. I start masking my hurt with a nervous laugh. She doesn't seem to believe my laugh's sincerety. "Look, just do me a favor and don't come to work when you're supposed to be on your day off. It makes my day turn into a day off too."

"Ah, you're quite snippy. Is that because I made you clean up all that mess by yourself yesterday?" I ask with a smile. Kuro and Shiro suddenly cling onto my legs and ask if we could get going now. Kuro looks at Namie sadly and then hides his face with my pants.

"Hey, you're wrong lady." Shiro says sternly. "Our mother is great. He may not know what to do when we get out of control, but he loves us with all his heart. That's the most important thing he can do." Shiro says as he clenches his hands. I'm surprised by my son's words, but they were something I really wanted to hear.

Namie just tells me that she has everything covered and tells me to head out. I look at Kuro and notice that his expression is that of hurt; he must have been listening. I pat his head and take my kids into the elevator after saying a quick goodbye to Naime.

"Kuro, you don't have to look so sad." I tell him as he continues to hold onto my leg for dear life. He looks up at me and whimpers a little. "She's just mad because I _always_ give her a lot of work. It's not your fault." I pause for a moment and ruffle Shiro's hair. "Thank you, Shiro." He looks up at me and blushes before nodding. After a moment of a silence he speaks again.

"Dad was right, she's a bitch." I flinch after hearing these words coming from my son's mouth. I tell Shiro not to say things like that (even if they are true) and in my head I remind myself to punish Shizu-chan for letting such words slip in front of our children. Kuro looks at his brother curiously and then tugs at my shirt.

"Mommy, what does that word mean?" Kuro asks curiously. I tell him it isn't important. Shizu-chan, you sure are charming…All sarcasm aside, he's pretty much dead.

After exiting my work place we head off to the stores. I like taking my kids a lot of places. When we were once a family, a more together kind of family, we used to go to a lot of places together on the weekends. I really liked that, but then my work and Shizu-chan's work tied us all up and we haven't been able to be together like that. I suppose that's why our family is split into sections, but this dynamic is changing. I'm hoping by Christmas this year, our family will be better.

As we walk around into stores we come across our few friends around town. We run into Mikado and his group again and have a longer chat with them, then we met up with Hina and I chatted with her a bit while sitting on a bench in the park. Then my kids went and played with Simon; he seems to really enjoy their company just like everyone else does, well except for Namie apparently.

"How about we get something to eat, ne?" I ask my children as I take their hands. Kuro smiles and nods a bit energetically. Shiro nods a little less intensively than his brother. As we walk by, Shiro catches a father and son together; the son sitting on his father's shoulders while laughing and the father holding onto his son tightly. He looks at them for a while and even looks behind once they walk past us. I can decipher the look in his eyes as yearning. How could I ignore this?

I buy my boys something to eat and lead them to the park and we eat there peacefully until Kuro decides to go play. Shiro says to his brother that he'll join him later. I can tell he wants to talk to me about something and I can already know what it is.

"Aunt Celty told you, right?" I ask Shiro as I continue eating my fatty tuna. He looks up at me with surprise but then sighs and nods shyly. "Your father and I never wanted to tell you…so I suppose leaving the burden to her was a relief to us, but it should have been our responsibility…" In that part, I've failed as a mother. "You know…when your father had said such a thing to Shinra and even took on another job to pay for all the expenses, I fell in love with him all over again."

Shiro looks surprised again but then seems to understand and nods. I can sense that he wants to cry, but he wants to look strong in front of me so he holds his emotions in.

"Dad…he's not a monster…is he?" I flinch from surprise and then shake my head.

"If you think that he is, I should say you're wrong, but in a way we're all monsters. If you feel out of place, don't feel that way because everyone isn't perfect." I say as I hold him closer to me. "I don't know what Aunt Celty told you specifically, but your father is an amazing man. He not only paid for you and your illness, but also did anything in his power to keep me alive as well. He'd visit every day after work and stay the night, usually visiting you after he saw me."

"You were sick too?" Shiro asks in concern.

"Yes…there were some complications with me having you. Shinra said that I could have died while having you…but they managed to keep me alive…I was very weak and…and since I wasn't a woman they couldn't really conclude any of the normal reasons for me falling ill."

"A woman?"

"…It's not exactly normal…that you have two fathers, son."

"Two father's…?" He asks curiously. I suddenly realize why he's asking these questions so wholeheartedly.

"Son…um…you didn't think I was a woman did you?" He stares at me and blinks. "You did…ah…I see…"

"I knew you looked different than any other mother I've seen, but I thought it was normal…" Shiro explains naively. I laugh a little and pat his head.

"Anyway…the doctor's finally figured out what I was ill with…apparently I had received a virus while in the hospital and since I was pregnant during the time I first caught the illness, I was quite weak and I could easily get sick. They suspected it was the flu of some kind, but they then figured out it was pneumonia, so I was fairly ill for a few days. In those few days you were also ill with some unknown virus and they said you might not make it…I grew very depressed after knowing this…but…you know who was there to tell me that everything would be alright?"

"…Dad…"

"Yes, your father kept telling me that he was going to do whatever it took to save you. He loved you with all his heart the second you were born and the same went for me. We didn't want to lose you. Your father said to me 'Izaya I'm not giving up…I'm gonna save him no matter the cost…He's gonna be alright. I promise.' At that moment I fell in love with him all over again and I could tell that he saw this." I could remember it so clearly…

**Flashback**

_Shizu-chan is holding my hand, so I'm less scared. The nurse just told me that my child is dying…he's fading away and I can't see him…I'm depressed and angry. No mere words can help me describe what I'm feeling or what I'm going through._

"_Shizu-chan, I don't think I can take it if Shiro were to…" I don't dare finish that sentence otherwise that would mean I have given up. _

"_Don't worry, that's not going to happen. I'll make sure it doesn't." He says determinedly. "Izaya I'm not giving up…I'm gonna save him no matter the cost…He's gonna be alright. I promise."_

"_You haven't broken a promise since before we got back together, so I trust you…" I say with tears in my eyes. He leans over and kisses my lips passionately, probably trying to drown my depression as well as his in love. _

"You know…your father was there every step of the way…He only left me when he was taking care of you in the other hospital, but he'd call me so often that sometimes I thought our phone bill would be higher than the cost of our house." I say with a laugh. "But his voice was so comforting during those few days. He left Celty to take care of me so I wasn't so lonely, but even so…I missed him and I missed you so much…" I pause and then look at the sky. "Then Celty told me about how your father had threatened Shinra and I could tell just how serious he was."

"Dad…Dad did that all for me…?"

"Of course. He loved and still loves you." I say proudly. "After you came back after recovering, I got to finally see you. Your father stood by my bedside as I held you and he told me that he'd never give up on you and he's kept his promise. He loves you and your brother very much and he'd do anything for you boys. I want you to know that." Shiro fidgets in his spot before clinging onto my arm and then collapsing on my lap. I haven't seen Shiro cry like this in a long time. I hold him in my arms and kiss his head, trying very hard to comfort him. I know what he's feeling is most likely regret, regret because he's been so distant and cold to his father without even knowing the truth of what he really is. And what Shizu-chan really is, is one hell of a good husband and father. "I bet your father would really like it if you'd give him a really big hug when he gets home. That's what he's always wanted from you." He nods and wipes his eyes.

"Shiro…" Kuro says as he approaches us. "Why are you crying, big bro?" Shiro hides his face and tries to make Kuro go away.

"I'm not crying…" Shiro says as he waves his hand, trying to shoo his brother. "J-just g-go p-play…" Ah, Shiro's acquired my stuttering. Ah, memories; it sure takes me back. I laugh goodheartedly and hug my two kids.

After lunch I suggest that we go to the barber, but Shiro refuses and says quite sternly that he wants his father to cut his hair because Shizu-chan had promised he would. Truth be told, Shizu-chan cuts hair pretty well, but when I told him he should become a hairstylist he retorted by saying that I looked more like the type to be one. I think he was saying that I look gay. He says the V-neck shirts and the slim figure I have are supposed to be evidence that I would fit the image of a gay hairstylist. That night he slept on the couch.

**Shizuo's POV**

After a couple more clients, Tom says we'll be done. It makes me happy that I'll be going home. After a day of a bunch of shitheads, it's good to relax and spend some time with my family. Kuro likes to watch TV with me and Shiro enjoys joining in whenever he wants to. Sometimes he's pretty hesitant, but he'll sit close enough for me to feel like he's trying to be affectionate. Ah, I also love seeing Izaya. Never thought I'd say that. I used to dread going to school when I was little because he would always pester me, but nowadays his presence pleases me.

There's something that Izaya told me that's been bothering me though. He said that Shiro might know about his hospital days when he was born. I bet that's what Celty told him. We never told him about that because we thought it was best for him not to know, but now Izaya has told me that it's probably the key to bring us together. I suppose it's true, but I really rather not remember the days when Shiro and Izaya were in the hospital.

I felt so strange…There I was the strongest man of Ikebukuro sitting beside my sick husband and I'm not able to do anything to help him. I then find out that my son is also sick and feel even weaker because the doctor's say they don't know what's wrong with him. I can remember it so clearly, that it makes my chest tight.

**Flashback**

"_We're really sorry…but he doesn't seem like he's going to make it…" I had gotten the news a few minutes before and the words are still repeating in my mind. How could this happen? Shinra was checking Izaya all throughout his pregnancy and yet there are complications now? I don't want to believe it. I can't. Hours before I just got word of Izaya catching pneumonia, so I'm not allowed in his room until he's on antibiotics._

_I feel so fucking powerless…I'm supposed to be the strongest man in Ikebukuro and yet the two people I love most in this world are suffering and I can't do anything about it except watch and wait for some miracle to happen? _

_The doctors say that Izaya will most likely recover, but that my son's future looks bleak. I can't sit here and torture myself over these words. I can't listen to anymore of this. It's making me lose it. I head off down the hall and try to relax, but I just can't, not when my son and husband are sick. I look at the door in front of me and notice that it's the door that Shinra went through with my son, Shiro. I clench my fists and head inside carefully and quietly. I see a few babies in incubators, struggling to keep their breaths. I feel my heartstrings being tugged at as I finally set my eyes on the incubator that my son is in._

"_I'm sorry…" I say to him as I watch his chest rise and fall. I put my hand through the glove that allows you to "touch" the child inside and hold onto his hand. He's having trouble breathing and he's hooked up to machines; it scares and worries me. At that moment I felt like there was nothing I could do, that maybe this was just how it was going to go; it's how the world works, but then I felt his hand twitch and then hold onto my finger. _

_I give his small amount of strength hold onto my finger, as if asking me not to give on him. I start to cry a little as I hold onto his small, delicate hand. I should never give up…not on my son…not on Izaya…I won't give up. I then loosen my grip on my son and head off to tell Izaya how I'm not going to give up on him. _

_There were only a few days where Shiro was in the hospital where Izaya was, those few days I visited Izaya first and then went to go see Shiro. I had taken up another job as a bartender to make enough money to pay for a specialist doctor to try and save Shiro. Izaya said I was working too hard because every day I would wake up early to work with Tom and then head off in the evening 'til late to work at the bar. I would visit Izaya and Shiro really late, about eleven o'clock._

_Then, I approached Shinra once I had caught word that Shiro was in stable condition. _

"_Don't you dare let my son die! I don't care what it takes; just make sure my son lives through this." I push him and hold him up by his collar with tears welling up in my eyes. "I don't want to lose my son…I can't…I won't be able to take it, neither would Izaya…Please…I'm begging you…" I tell him more slowly. _

"_Shizuo…" Shinra says as he sees my tears start to stream down. I put my hand on my head and run my fingers through my hair downheartedly. "Don't worry…I'll find someone who'll be able to help." Shinra says as he looks over to Celty. _

"_Thank you…" I say sadly as I think about what my life would be like if I really had to go through with losing a child…It would devastate me and I don't think I'd be able to ever get over it, neither would Izaya. But, I'm thinking even more so for Izaya because he has a bond with our child that nothing can break, birthing a child is having a connection with it like no other person can. "I'd never forgive myself if I let this happen…if I don't do anything to try and stop it…"_

It was painful…It was painful to wait for my son to get better. And it was painful to leave Izaya alone while staying with my son in a hospital miles away from home, but it was something that I was capable of doing so I did. I'm glad I did because they had figured out what was wrong with him; he had caught a flu-like virus, but not quite the same, that was causing mucus to drain into his lungs. Thankfully they were able to help him and in the few days that followed he seemed to be recovering quite well. I was able to take him home in due time and once I did, Izaya was eccentric to see him.

The moment I brought him back, Izaya was sobbing so much; he had an emotional meltdown. It was alright though because he was crying because he was so happy.

**Flashback**

"_I was so stupid…" He says as he holds onto Shiro tightly. It's already night, but Izaya hasn't wanted to let go of Shiro since I brought him back an hour or so ago. _

"_What do you mean?" I ask him as I caress my son's check. _

"_I was stupid to call you a monster." He says to me as he holds my hand. "Thank you…" _

"_I should thank you for giving us Shiro." I say as I kiss Izaya's forehead gently. "I love you." _

"_I love you too, Shizu-chan." _

**Izaya's POV**

After a while of playing in the park capturing bugs and paying a few bills and other errands, the kids and I finally head home, so we can be there before Shizu-chan. Shiro is excited about greeting his father more appropriately than he's been doing.

"You guys had fun?" I ask them as I head into the kitchen to start preparing dinner. Kuro nods happily as he eats another piece of pocky from one of the boxes I bought at the convenient store. I suddenly hear the doorknob rattle and then hear the door open slowly.

"I'm ho—" I can tell that he was tackled by Kuro, even if I'm not in the living room near the door where Shizu-chan entered. But when I check, it's not Kuro who was the first to attack Shizu-chan; it was Shiro. There, attached to Shizu-chan's leg is Shiro with tears in his eyes. He's talking to his father, but the words are broken and muffled because he's buried his face in Shizu-chan's chest since Shizu-chan kneeled down to embrace him.

It's a beautiful sight actually. It reminds me of some TV drama I once saw, but seeing this sight in front of me stirs more real and intense feelings than watching it on TV.

"Welcome home, Shizu-chan." I say with a smile. He looks at me and smiles back after he nods.

I really think our family is becoming stronger; such a bond will hopefully be equivalent to the strength that Shizu-chan possesses. That would make me happy.

* * *

A/N: THE END! No, just kidding XD Anyway, please please review it'd make me super duper happy! And see you in the next chapter!


	8. Happy Anniversary Part 1

Yeah...I haven't updated this story in a looooooong time...Life swept me away and I couldn't get back into, until now. I'm really sorry for those of you who were waiting hella of long for the next chapter. Anyway, you can slap me...or hit me with something heavy DX There might be a lot...and I mean A LOT of mistakes in here. I'm sorry about that. I've been off track lately and I haven't been able to type this chapter in a long time so I didn't bother with editing so much, but if there are any mistakes tell me and I shall fix them. ALSO, IF YOU WANT TO TELL ME WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE, SHIRO OR KURO? (for those still with me D:) Or any favorite quotes or moment from this story you like. I want to know to see if people are really liking it how I'm writing it or what I'm putting into this. Lastly, this will be in two parts.

* * *

**Shizuo's POV**

It's kind of a flaw of Izaya's that he's a light sleeper. I can never wake up without waking him first, so every year on the day before our anniversary I slip something in his dinner so he can be in a deeper for a little longer. I know it's a bit sneaky, but I've turned into a bit of a romantic and so I really want to make a special breakfast for him this morning. As I slowly get off our bed, I take a quick look at his sleeping face. He sure does look like he's in a deep sleep considering that he has his arms sprawled out, his mouth open, and he's drooling. I better get the camera.

"Shizu-chan…" I almost have a heart attack when I hear him call my name, thinking that I woke him up, but when I look over to him he's just blushing in his sleep and smiling. I should take a picture of that too. He turns over to his side and grabs a hold of my pillow, which I purposely put there so he could hug it and then moans in his sleep like he always does when he's having a good dream. He's really cute when he's like this, but I can't waste time observing him, so I head off to the kitchen and start looking for the ingredients.

Suddenly I hear footsteps and immediately think its Izaya, but then I see Shiro standing there rubbing his eyes. I walk over very carefully and pat my son's head. Unfortunately, Shiro's a light sleeper too. One little noise and he's awake as if he knew there was a fire in the house.

"What are you doing up, Shiro?" I already know the answer, but I'd like to know why he decided to come downstairs.

"Happy Anniversary, Dad." He says simply. I flinch from surprise and then shake my head with a smile on my face. I ruffle his hair and then look at the time.

"Mind telling me where your mom keeps all the ingredients? I can't find the eggs…" I say with a nervous laugh.

"What are you trying to make Mom?" He asks with a smile.

"An omelet." He nods and grabs some ingredients out of the refrigerator and then out of the cabinets. He spreads them onto the table and smiles at me as he points to all of the stuff.

"There, but do you really know how to cook, Dad?" He asks me as he watches me start picking up some ingredients. I laugh nervously as I scratch the back of my head.

"Well, we're going to find that out right now." Shiro only smiles and nods as he continues to stay at my side. He's been with his mother while he was cooking in the kitchen and then with Hina once or twice when he was over at Kasuka's place, so when I'm doing something wrong, he instructs me how Izaya would do it or how Hina would do it. It wasn't annoying since he was helping me. I rather have someone nag at me on how to do this sort of thing instead of getting it wrong and wasting ingredients and poisoning Izaya. "Are you thinking of becoming a chef?" Shiro blushes and shakes his head. I smile at him and bring him closer to me.

"Are you gonna make him some toast?" Shiro asks me as he gets the bread out and holds it up. I nod and plug in the toaster. Shiro hands me two slices of bread so I put them in the slots and then he pulls the lever down. He watches the bread for me while I turn over the omelet. "Mom likes just butter on his toast."

"Yeah, he doesn't like jelly because it's too sweet." I say as I slide the finished omelet on his favorite plate. I look at the bread and see that it still has a couple more seconds until its ready so I go and find the tray so I can serve Izaya his breakfast in bed. Every year I've slipped something in his dinner the day before our anniversary, but have yet to make him breakfast in bed. Usually it's something different every year to surprise him. He always tells me I'm unpredictable so I'd like to keep that cloak of mystery.

"Toast is done." Shiro says as he shows me the plate with already made toast, with a little butter. I pat his head and thank him for taking care of the toast. I snap my finger as I remember to get him a drink. I prepare him his usual coffee, adding just a touch of cream like he likes it and then put everything on the tray.

"Can you do another favor for me and grab that little vase with the flower in it that's on the table?" Shiro smiles and grabs the vase and follows me upstairs with it.

I open the door slowly and hope that he's still asleep, which he is. Kuro has followed Shiro and me inside with a sneaky smile. I set down the tray on the nightstand he has on his side and then tell my kids that one I count to five we're going to yell "Happy Anniversary" really loud. They agree and start giggling a little. By the way Izaya looks as he's sleeping now, he's not under the influence of the stuff I had slipped into his dinner, so he's in a light sleep and the tiniest of noises will wake him.

I smile and start putting my fingers up, counting to five.

One…Two…Three…Four…Five!

"Happy Anniversary!" We all yell loudly, as Izaya sits up in a panic, the covers flying off his body. He clutches his chest as he laughs a little. He lies back down and puts his hand on his forehead. I'm glad he didn't pull his knife out on us since he has one with him all the time.

"Morning." I say with a laugh. Izaya rubs his eyes and tries to calm his heart. Kuro immediately jumps on the bed and tackles his mother. Shiro does this a little more calmly. I smile as I look upon the scene before me. Kuro then motions me in for a group hug. I feel really cheesy right now, but it's kind of nice. "After that little scare, you must be hungry." I say as I place the tray over his legs and then place the little vase for décor. He smiles at me and motions me to lean forward. I do as I'm told and he gives me a kiss on the cheek. Kuro giggles and runs off after Izaya tells him that he and his brother should go eat breakfast too. Shiro nods and heads downstairs, tailing after his little brother.

"You sure are unpredictable. Thank you." He inspects the food and smiles. "Shiro helped you, am I right?"

"Nothing seems to get by you." I say with a laugh. "I bet if I had made it by myself, it'd probably make you sick."

"You used to tell me that_ I_ used to make you sick when you just looked at me." Izaya reminds me as he begins to eat his meal.

"You know I never meant anything by it."

"Well, if that was your way of flirting with me, it really sucked." Izaya says with a laugh.

"I think constantly getting me into fights and making me get run over by a truck is really bad flirting too." I retort simply. "Anyway, I'm gonna tell the kids that they're gonna spend the night at Shinra's today." Izaya smirks at me as he gets the hint. "But before that, the kids really want to spend time with us since this is the first time in a long time that both of us have a day off on the same day. After that, I've got reservations for us at your favorite restaurant."

"I've never seen you this organized."

"Well, this is a special occasion."

"Do you have an organized agenda of how we're gonna make love tonight?" He asks with a smirk. I blush slightly and then scratch the back of my neck nervously.

"I thought we'd just wing it. Whatever you want, I'll do it." I say honestly.

"And whatever _you_ want, I'll do it?"

"Exactly." I say with a smile.

"This is gonna be fun then." Izaya says as he puts his hands behind his head as he closes his eyes. He then opens his eyes and thinks about something. "So you're saying that I can top if I asked you?"

"Huh?" I ask with surprise.

"Yeah, you said 'whatever you want' didn't you?" Izaya says as he blushes. "I really want to satisfy my Shizu-chan."

"I don't picture you topping me." I say honestly. He looks at me with a sad look and sighs.

"Fine. It seems your male pride won't break."

"Why are you saying that as if you're not a guy with 'male pride' too?"

"Apparently, Shiro thought I was a woman all this time." For a moment we're silent and then I burst into laughter as if it's a joke worth dying over. "Stop laughing, brute."

"I'm sorry, it's…it's…just that…you're…" I can't stop laughing at this point.

"I don't see how this could be funny. I'm very peeved about this." Izaya says as he crosses his arms.

"I'm sorry…you're right…it's just…"

"I'm about ready to cut your throat."

"Alright, alright…" I say as I wipe my eyes of the tears. "That was good though. Laughter is the best medicine."

"Hmm, I wonder what's the best poison then." He says darkly.

"Hey, don't be so sour about it. I bet in his eyes you were a beautiful woman. Besides, we never really told him about the truth anyway. How was he supposed to know you were a man if we never told him or Kuro?"

"True…What do you mean by 'in his eyes.'?" He asks suspiciously. I can tell he thinks that I inferred that in my eyes he's not beautiful.

"Ah, well in my eyes you're beautiful just the way you are now. I don't need to imagine you as a woman." I say with a shrug.

"You're such a sweetie." Izaya says with a laugh. "Aren't you gonna eat something?"

"Do you mind sharing?" Izaya rolls his eyes and offers me some of his omelet. I open my mouth and he feeds me casually. "So the kids want to take us out somewhere, probably around Ikebukuro to see our friends. Kuro says he reminded everyone that our anniversary is today."

"He's always the one to boast about things like that." Izaya says with a laugh. "Well, let's get ready then. I'll give the boys a bath and then we can take a shower together. How about that?"

"That sounds like a great idea." I say happily.

**Izaya POV**

Shizu-chan has always been quite unpredictable, that's one of the reasons why I fell in love with him. That's why I also wasn't expecting Shizu-chan and my two boys to wake me up so suddenly. But, it wasn't too horrible; my heart just wanted to pop out of my chest. Shizu-chan should know that I hold grudges though. Not on my children, but certainly on him. I don't think he realizes the mistake he just made moments ago.

Plain and simple, he said that tonight we're going to make love. And he said that he will do whatever I want and I'll do whatever he wants. Big mistake. But before I can get to my revenge, we're going to get ready to head into town, all four of us for the first time in months. I really love spending time with my family, but there's so little time to spare that most of the time we're only all together at the dinner table.

I send my children off into the bathroom so I can bathe them. Shizu-chan told me not to baby them so I won't join them in the bathtub like I usually do. Once they're in the tub I begin washing them and then scrubbing their hair with shampoo.

"Are you and Dad gonna do something special together?"

"Hmm? Why do you ask that?"

"Well, because Kuro overheard Dad saying something about me and Kuro having to be at Uncle Shinra's." They were listening to our conversation?

"How much of that did you hear afterward?"

"Nothing else." Shiro says simply. "Kuro got really hungry so we went downstairs after that." I let out a relieved sigh and then continue scrubbing Kuro and Shiro and then begin rinsing them. Kuro starts splashing around like he usually does, while Shiro begins to play with his bath toys a little more calmly. They're so very different, but they still get along so well like they do. They hardly ever fight. They may give each other the silent treatment for a day or so, but then they revert back to being friends again.

"Your father and I are just gonna have a nice dinner together and then just spend some time together alone." I answer simply. "Now then, it's time to get out and dry you both off."

"But Mommy!" Kuro whines loudly. "I want to play some more."

"Nope, it's time to head off. Your father says you two are taking us around town." I say happily as I help Shiro get out of the tub first. Kuro in the meantime relaxes in the bath, playing with his toys violently like he always does. Shiro allows me to help him to dry his hair and body. I wrap the towel over his waist and tell him to change while I dry Kuro off. He nods and begins to search through his small pile of clothes I left on the stool beside me.

"Mommy, you've never told us about your wedding." Kuro reminds me as he gets out of the tub. I smile and tell him that I'd tell them the whole story of how Shizu-chan and I fell in love up to the point when we got married some other time. This time would give me a chance to look for our photo album. If I can remember clearly, Erika had taken about one thousand pictures of our wedding. Out of the blue she'd always give me a few pictures she took of us when we got back together and whatnot. It was creepy, but also flattering. Shizu-chan just said it was "fucking annoying." He's never been one to enjoy fans. He especially didn't enjoy it when he found out that she made an entire site called " .com" which she proceeded to inform me that " .com" was already taken. She complained about how it wasn't even about us; it was some other kind of automobile site which at the top said " : What you need, when you need it."

"Well, well, well you both clean up nicely." Shizu-chan comments happily as he looks at the boys. They're dressed in casual wear, but they look very cute nevertheless. Kuro puts his arms up, wanting his father to pick him up. Shizu-chan gets the hint and picks Kuro up and tosses him in the air. Kuro just laughs all the while. Shiro holds onto my pants and watches in awe as his father spins Kuro around a little and then lifts him up over his shoulders. Shiro's eyes suddenly glow in admiration. I pat his head and scoot him forward.

"Go ahead, he'll lift you up like that too." I whisper to Shiro. He shakes his head and blushes as he buries his face in my pants. "Well, we better take a shower." I proclaim simply.

"Yeah, you kids can go play now." Shizu-chan says as he puts Kuro down gently and ruffles his hair. "Your mother and I will be ready soon."

"Do you guys take a shower together like me Shiro take a bath together?" Kuro asks curiously. Shizu-chan and I flinch from surprise and immediately deny that we do that a little frantically. Kuro and Shiro laugh a little. "You guys are funny." Shiro is a lie detector, so the smile he exchanged with his brother just now was one that said "They're lying, no doubt about it."

Shizu-chan and I head off to our bedroom to prepare ourselves for our shower, while looking for his clothes in our dresser Shizu-chan turns to me and sighs.

"They know…"

"Yeah, nothing gets by Shiro." I say simply, smiling all the while even if I know this is not something to smile about. Arguing about it with the two boys was futile since Shiro is so smart and Kuro is not much a fool either despite his mischievous nature. "Well, it's nothing to be _too_ ashamed over."

"You seem to be shameless." Shizu-chan says with an annoyed expression.

"I'm not, but there's nothing we can do about it. They know the truth and they know the truth really _is _the truth. How can we fight that?" I ask as I shrug my shoulders. "We can tell them a thousand lies to cover that one truth, but it will never bury it completely."

"Alright Mr. Metaphor." Shizu-chan says as he enters the bathroom. I smile and head inside the bathroom with him. "Maybe to make the truth into a lie, we should stop showering together." Shizu-chan says as he pushes me out of the bathroom.

"Nooooo." I whine simply. "This is the only time I really get to spend with Shizu-chan intimately. Don't take that away from me." It's a special time me and Shizu-chan share. We don't even have sex since we feel connected by just being close, just like we're lying in bed. Shizu-chan thinks for a moment and then sighs. He moves out of the doorway and allows me to enter the bathroom.

I always win~

After removing our articles of clothing we head inside the shower. The warm water is so inviting and just the thought of being close to Shizu-chan like this after a long time is heartwarming. Shizu-chan starts scrubbing my body carefully as I cling onto him lovingly. We usually take turns scrubbing and washing each other as for drying we do that ourselves.

After the shower we get dressed in our usual attire. I put on a nice black V-necked shirt and Shizu-chan wears his usual bartender get-up. I'm about to put on my furry jacket when Shizu-chan stops me and snatches it out of my hands.

"I rather not be seen with some weirdo in a furry jacket." Shizu-chan says rudely. I snatch the jacket back and then put it on with a smirk on my face. Shiro quickly takes my hand and pulls me while Kuro takes his father's hand and does the same thing. The two seem to be quite enthusiastic about heading out for a walk like usual.

"Uncle Shinra and Aunt Celty said that they have presents for you guys." Shiro says as we walk together. Kuro travels a little farther ahead like he always does. As people pass he strikes up some weird conversation or asks a silly question, which makes me instinctively take his hand and apologize to whoever he was once talking to. Kuro can be quite bothersome when he wants to be.

"So we're heading there first?" I ask Shiro as I try to calm Kuro down. Shiro nods before he suddenly remembers something. He looks up his father and shyly looks to the floor. If I remember clearly he had once saw a son and his father together; the son resting on his father's shoulders. I tap Shiro's shoulder and try to persuade him to ask his father. Shiro's not as cold to his father anymore, but he's replaced that unnecessary resentment into unnecessary shyness.

"Shizu-chan, I think Shiro wants to ask you something." I finally say as I realize I have to push him along. Shiro looks at the floor shyly and begins shaking his head, refusing to say what's on his mind.

"I'm all ears son." Shizu-chan says as he ruffles Shiro's hair. Shiro looks to the ground and then buries his face into his dad's shirt. I can tell he's blushing and trying to hide it. Shizu-chan smiles and then looks at me. I smile back at him and motion my hands above my shoulders as if I'm holding someone's legs there. He nods and then picks Shiro up, making him wonder what's happening. Shiro's a bit bigger than Kuro, slightly taller too, but Shizu-chan doesn't have any trouble picking him up.

Shiro hangs onto his father as he notices how high up he is and then smiles and blushes with happiness. He hugs his father and looks as if he's going to start crying with joy, but seems like he's controlling it.

"Thanks dad…" Shiro says shyly as he looks around at his new height.

"No problem, Shiro. You just ask me whenever you want a ride." Shizu-chan smiles and holds onto Shiro's legs firmly. Kuro smiles at his brother and gives him a little signal of some sort that only them seem to understand since they make things up. I then see Shiro taking off his dad's sunglasses and putting them on happily. Kuro starts laughing and then Shiro starts. I smile at the two boys seeing as they're having a great time with the simpler things. Shizu-chan laughs a little and then says (trying to act as if he doesn't know) that his sunglasses have disappeared, which makes the kids try to hide their laughs with their hands.

"Have you seen my sunglasses, Izaya?" He asks me happily. I smile at him and shake my head in disbelief. This is another part of Shizu-chan that I'd rather not see since it's so ridiculous, but he does it for his children and for that reason I don't dare say anything. It's kind of cute in a way.

"Nope, can't say that I have." I say as I laugh a little too. "Maybe Shiro knows what happened to them?" I say and then noticed Simon is waving desperately at us. Shiro tells his father he doesn't know what happened to his sunglasses and passes them to Kuro. Kuro quickly hides them. Shizu-chan doesn't notice this so he probably still suspects that Shiro has them. Ah, they love this game, keep swapping enough to make the person mad or crazy, but oddly Shizu-chan as a lot of patience (well, for his children).

"Hello! Anniversary today right?" Simon asks in his usual accent. The kids usually understand him pretty well, except when he speaks in Russian. "Little Izaya and little Shizuo told me." Simon explains as he points to Shiro and Kuro. Oddly those are their nicknames Simon had given them when the two were fighting in the street one day, resembling us a lot but in mini form. There was less vending machines being tossed when the our children were fighting in the streets though. I forget why they were fighting in the first place…Oh, right, Kuro had stolen one of Shiro's toys and wouldn't give it back. He wanted to play so he made Shiro follow him to get the toy back. This was when they were a year younger than they are now.

"Our kids reminded everyone we know about today…" I say, feeling a bit embarrassed that they did that. Shiro tells his father he wants to say hi to Simon and so his father puts him down.

"Here, for you two." Simon says as he holds out two presents and then kneels down and gives the two boys some fliers to pass out. Everytime we bring the kids here he does this since people love our children so much. I mean, they're adorable and Kuro won't take no for an answer. "Happy Anniversary."

"Thanks Simon, but we really better get going." Shizu-chan says as he watches his children work their charms on the people passing by. When Simon tries to hand out fliers a lot of people ignore him, but when our kids do…damn…there's like a crowd of people. I'm sure people are missing work to see how cute our children look handing out fliers.

"Fun. Those two having lots of it." Simon says as he points to our kids. Suddenly Tom appears out of nowhere from the crowd. Shizu-chan blinks from surprise and then pats Tom's shoulder. Tom tries to catch his breath and then smiles at us before looking back to the crowd.

"Are those _your_ kids in there?" Tom asks as he looks at the two little figures in the middle of the crowd. Shizu-chan and I nod at the same time with a sigh. "Wow, they sure know how to work it." Tom then takes out two boxes from his bag he's carrying. "Here you two, Happy Anniversary."

"Thanks Tom." Shizu-chan says with a smile as he looks at the medium-sized box.

"Yeah, thanks Tom."I say and then look at the ever-growing crowd. "Shiro, Kuro! We're leaving now!" Like little rabbits, they're ears prick up and they make their way through the crowd. They would have given Simon the leftover fliers…if there were any…

After travelling away from Simon and Tom, I look at Shizu-chan and tell him that we should have brought a bag with us for all the gifts were probably gonna get.

"Now, we go to see Uncle Shinra and Aunt Celty." Shiro says as he puts his arms up so his father can lift him up over his shoulders again. Shizu-chan gladly does so and holds onto Shiro happily.

"Son, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to my sunglasses, would you. I know you had them." Shizu-chan says as he probably noticed said sunglasses missing on Shiro's face. Shiro giggles and says he hasn't seen them. Shizu-chan then suspects Kuro. Surely enough, when he looks down and looks at Kuro he spots the sunglasses on his head. He plucks them off from the top of Kuro's head and puts them back on.

We walk peacefully along the way to Shinra's place; the kids giving us no trouble while we get there. When we get to Shinra's place Shiro is still on Shizu-chan's shoulders, which makes me happy since the two haven't been on good terms like this before.

"Ah, Shizuo, Izaya-kun; come in, come in." Shinra says as he opens the door. Our two kids scamper inside and immediately hug Celty's legs. Shinra looks upon them and I can tell he feels hurt. Out of the two, Shiro and Kuro really do love Celty the most. Poor Shinra.

"Well then, um…Happy Anniversary you two." Shinra says as he gives us a gift. "It's a gift from Celty and me. It's for both of you to _share_." Shinra winks and then blushes while laughing a little. Shizu-chan steps on his foot.

[Happy Anniversary you guys.] Celty types on her PDA and shows us. Shizu-chan holds my hand and smiles at me as I turn to him.

"Thanks, this is a really special day…and we were wondering…" Shizu-chan looks over to the kids who are clinging onto Shinra and asking him questions and whatnot. "We were wondering if you could keep the kids here for tonight."

[You guys already planned _that_ together?] If Celty had a head she would have probably been looking at us skeptically.

"Celty, surely it's to be expected from us. We haven't been able to do _that_, since the kids were born."

[Sure, but the kids will probably ask questions about why they have to stay here for tonight.]

"Just tell them we're to spend the time alone." Shizu-chan tells her. "Maybe tell them that we also won't be home because we're going somewhere nice."

"So, you guys will be back here after you tour around town?" Shinra asks as he gets up from the couch. We look at him curiously. "I could hear you guys. We're in the same room, obliviously. We're not miles away. So when will you guys drop these little tikes off?"

"Probably around five o'clock. I have other plans with Izaya, not _just_ what I mentioned before." Shizu-chan says shyly as he blushes.

"Why do we have to stay here?" Kuro asks sadly.

"Can't we go with you guys?" Shiro asks.

"Yes, for most of the day you'll be with us but before dinner time, you'll be here with Uncle Shinra and Aunt Celty." I say happily as I kneel down and ruffle both of my sons' hair.

"And then…?" Kuro asks demandingly.

"And then we'll pick you two up in the morning." They both look at each other as they both gasp.

"You're gonna leave us here overnight!" They both ask in unison.

"Kids, it's only for tonight. We promise." Shizu-chan says happily to them. We haven't done this in past years since we were both too attached to them to leave them here with Shinra and Celty. Besides, Shinra is not so trustworthy, not like Celty is and I was too afraid to let them stay with a mad doctor like him. Shizu-chan agreed, but this year we're really hoping to spend some much needed alone time together and rekindle our sex life. It sounds selfish, but we're desperate at this point.

"You guys are gonna have sex…" Shiro says unexpectedly. Boy, he really reminds me of Shizu-chan, what with his ways to surprise me. All of us, minus Kuro who's nodding his head in agreement with his brother, look at Shiro with surprise. We then turn our attention to Shinra, blaming this all on him is logical since he's such a blabber mouth or as Celty says an informational reverse toilet.

"What?" The accused man says as he lifts his arms. "I didn't say anything about that!"

"It wasn't Uncle Shinra…it was mom's diary…" I freeze for a moment, trying to remember where I stashed that stupid thing, which unfortunately was written by a very stupid younger me who loved to include detailed entries. I stopped writing in it after Shizu-chan and I got together, but I still had added some details about me wanting to have sex with him and whatnot, which now seems like a terrible idea. I now want to murder the younger me who wrote that stupid diary and the now older me who kept it. "It said a lot of weird things…like switching positions…" I cover Shiro's mouth and pat his head.

"Kids have the wildest imaginations…" I say nervously. "Where did you find that, Shiro?" I ask sternly.

"Kuro found it." I mentally applaud myself for guessing right. _Kuro_ found it. Kuro finds everything. Unfortunately, it's everything nobody ever wants anyone else to find (usually). He found Shizu-chan's "How to Sex" (Man on man edition) book once without really looking at the cover (besides he was one and half years old). He found my old school girl uniform that I hid away. He found Celty's unmentionables once. And he also…well he also found _out_ that I was a man sooner than Shiro I suppose. Shiro was still oblivious, which I had no knowledge of, but I knew Kuro knew I was a man because he caught me showering once. That happened when he was about three and a half. He's such a sneaky boy that I hadn't known he was there, or that he could pick locks. By that time, we made him adapted to doing more constructive things, but he's still as sly and sneaky as ever.

"Kuro…" I look over to Kuro whose dropping his head in shame, though he's just sorry he got caught, not because he knew that he did something wrong. Shiro always tells me the truth, but Kuro doesn't. And Kuro doesn't even get mad when his brother sells him out; they're too close. Kuro only tells the truth if it'll cause someone some great deal of trouble or it will cause a mess of things or something of the like. But he almost never tells _me_ the truth, probably to Shizu-chan though. "Mind telling me why you went snooping around where you weren't supposed to?"

"We just wanted to know more about mommy…"

"And you went and looked for my diary?"

"Uh-huh." Kuro says sadly. I sigh. There's nothing I can do now except for burn that book when I get back home. What has been read can't be unread…But fortunately, they don't entirely know what such things meant when they read all that.

"Well, you two will be punished later." I say with another sigh. "You're still gonna stay here for tonight as part of your punishment."

"Okay…" They both say in unison.

"Let's head out…" Shizu-chan says as he coughs nervously. "You boys were gonna take us to other places, right?" Pfft, Shizu-chan was just enjoying me taking charge. He didn't even add in his usual "Yeah you kids know you did bad."

"Oh yeah." Kuro says happily. "Let's go, let's go!" They both say goodbye to Uncle Shinra and Aunt Celty and drag Shizu-chan and I out the door before we could say anything.

"We have to go see Uncle Mikado and the others." Shiro states happily as he pushes me out and then travels farther ahead to carefully descend down the stairs.

"Come on, come on!" Kuro says as he pulls his father's hand, trying to make him move faster, but to no avail. Shizu-chan stops just a couple steps away from the stairs and smiles at Kuro. "Daaaaadd!" Kuro whines as he notices that his pulls are meaningless.

"Why don't we take the elevator this time?" Shizu-chan suggests to his kids as he points to said object.

"No, Mom says you're getting chunky because you eat too many sweets! We're going down the stairs." Kuro commands sternly as he points to said object. Shizu-chan immediately looks at me and gives me a cute glare.

"You have to admit that I'm always right." I say as I poke his belly. Shizu-chan sighs and starts descending down the stairs with me and the kids. We're fairly quiet as we descend, except for the kids who love making as much noise as possible. Mostly it's Kuro who provokes his older brother Shiro. When Shiro isn't around Kuro he's very well behaved and quiet. Kuro, minus Shiro, is relatively the same but he's much more hyper and loud if he's accompanied by his brother. But even if they are a bit of a handful together, they're also more fun.

Once outside again we head over to Mikado's place. Shiro and Kuro talk a little amongst themselves, at times pushing each other playfully. Kuro suddenly spots something and then runs over to the stop sign at the corner of the street and looks at it before tugging at it a little, trying to copy his father. We haven't really noticed anything particularly strange about our children, well except for Shiro. He's got a bit of his father's strength, but Kuro hasn't shown any signs of this so we're guessing that he's just average. Shizu-chan had talked wholeheartedly to Shiro about having such strength and Shiro seemed to understand, feeling quite happy that his father was sorry and that he was going to help him through whatever he was feeling because of his strength.

Shiro watches as he sees his brother attempt the (nearly) impossible task of taking a stop sign out of the concrete. Shizu-chan and I think it's adorable, while Shiro looks quite nervous about it.

In a split second, we suddenly hear the tearing of the stop sign from the ground and then see our son take it over to the edge of the sidewalk (in the middle of the road) and stops a familiar van before it drives past us (though it was about to stop anyway). We run over to Kuro and I lift him up in my arms protectively. Shizu-chan looks at the stop sign, how it now is implanted in a very inconvenient part of the road, some drivers drive around it. The van drives to the curb next to us and parks, rolling down the windows and revealing Kodata and his gang.

"Morning…you guys…" Kodata says as he's out of breath after the sudden brake he made. His gang looks unharmed as well as him, but they were probably very scared.

"Kuro…how did you do that?" I ask him as I hold him in my arms. Kuro shifts around and then looks at me as he holds onto my neck.

"I just thought really hard about it and then poof!" Kuro says as he happily smiles at me, content that he had succeeded in his desire to stop the van's passengers and driver in front of us. "Uncle Kodata has a gift for you guys." Kuro says as he the van's passengers exit the vehicle. Kodata laughs a little before patting Kuro's head and then Shiro's.

"He's a lively one…I'll give ya that." Kodata says as his breathing slows down to its normal rate. "Here…we all pitched in and got you guys this. Happy anniversary you two." Erika flashes a picture once I grab the gift, blinding Shizu-chan and I.

"Oh! These two are adorable!" Erika states happily.

"For the last time Erika…we're grown men. Grown men aren't adorable." Shizu-chan says in defense. She puffs out her cheeks and shakes her head.

"This time I was talking about your kids." She says as she kneels down and embraces them tightly then starts playing with their cheeks. "They're cheeks are so chubby! And they look just like their parent's! Such cute chibis." Shiro and Kuro suddenly run to Shizu-chan and I and hide behind our legs.

"She scares us…" Kuro admits shyly. Erika's heart drops.

"Heh…they don't mean that." I tell Erika nervously.

"Mom told us to always tell the truth…and you really do scare us!" Kuro says as he hides his face with my pants. Erika sighs and scoots away slowly.

"Anyway…we're heading off to the bookstore. We'll see you guys later." Kodata says before signaling his gang to enter the van again. Kodata kneels down to our kids and asks them if they still have the key chains he gave them. They search in their pockets and pull out their key chains happily. Kodata smiles and nods at them before entering the driver's seat and driving off.

"Kuro…" Shizu-chan says after the van gang leaves. "You never told us you had that much strength. How long have you knew?" Shizu-chan asks worriedly. Unlike Shiro, who ultimately is still trying to cope with the stress of owning such powers, Kuro is more adaptable and accepting of things within his control much like I was when I was younger.

"I've been able to carry a bunch of heavy things since I turned two." Kuro says happily. So he got his strength around the same time Shiro did. "I never told you guys because it was a lot of fun just now to make you guys all surprised. Happy Anniversary!" We both sigh, knowing full well that he's waited for this moment, probably skipping last year to do this to build up the surprise. "Now I'm just like Daddy." He adds happily after putting his arms down, which he had up to represent his revealed surprise "gift".

"Kuro…" Shizu-chan says as he kneels down to Kuro. "I'm glad you're accepting of your strength, but I don't want you using it for wrong reasons okay?"

"Okay Daddy." Kuro says as he hugs his father tightly. This has posed another problem in our road to happiness, but it's not so bad. Families are going to have to go through problems. With Shiro we have to make sure he becomes accustomed to his strength and accepts them while with Kuro we have to make sure he stays out of trouble. And boy, will there be trouble if we leave him be.

**Shizuo's POV**

I'm not sure what to think of all this news. Shiro has the same strength as me, and now I'm just finding out that so does Kuro. I was afraid this would happen and I even told Izaya before we decided to have kids that they might be stuck with this monstrous strength. All he said was "I know that's a risk, but I really want to have children with my beloved monster." Why does he always have to have his way? I mean, I always like to see that he does because I'm stupider now (stupid to fall in love with him, stupid to marry him, and stupid to risk having children with him). I love him a lot though…intelligence can go fuck a tree.

"So we better go to our next few stops and then we can go to the park." Izaya tells the kids as they run around us, trying to tag one another. Shiro's really happy now…I'm happier now that he's growing to love me. Shiro looks up to me suddenly as if he's read my mind and then holds up his hands for me to put him up on my shoulders. I lift him up, saving him from getting caught by his brother and look at Kuro who's pouting because Shiro is in a safe spot he can't get to. Izaya takes Kuro's hand to settle him down, which works; he quiets down and then starts asking if he can buy something at every store we pass.

Our day goes on the same way it began, strolling around town, meeting with our friends, receiving gifts, and then having lunch before going to the park so the kids can play on the playground. So here we are, with bags of gifts at our sides while watching the kids play.

"He gets it from you, you know that right?" I ask suddenly as I close my eyes.

"What? The sneakiness?"

"Yeah and the whole 'causing others trouble' thing you used to do." I say feeling a bit annoyed.

"Heh, you're just mad because I used to cause trouble for a lot of people not just you."

"You were a sneaky, horrible bastard, you know that?"

"Ne, you loved it." He says happily as he laughs a little. "At least when I used to get you mad, you used to get your fill of exercise. Shizu-chan wasn't so fat because of our little chases~"

"You're giving yourself lousy excuses." I say before pulling him in for a kiss. Our foreheads touch as we break away and we stay like that for a little while before hearing Kuro yell out "Mommy, Daddy!" Kuro runs this way and tackles us, landing in Izaya's lap before getting up and lying between us. Shiro comes over as well, but tackles me instead and ends up in my lap.

"Are you guys having a nice Anniversary?" Shiro asks as he gets up and sits on the grass next to me.

"Yup, the best Anniversary yet. A bit better than last year's at least." Izaya says with a laugh. "To think that you even made strangers tell us happy anniversary." _That_ was a bit awkward though. While walking around town, the kids would tell complete strangers (while staying close to us) that it was our anniversary. And to think people actually told us happy anniversary even if they didn't even know us personally, though they probably remember us as the guys who made a mess of the city.

"Now where do we go?" Kuro asks energetically.

"Back to Shrina's it's already 4:30, so by the time we get there it'll be the time they're expecting you two." I say as I look at my watch Izaya bought me for our anniversary. When we arrived at the park, Izaya decided to give me my gift. I broke all my other watches before I married Izaya, so I decided never to get one until I could control my anger. Izaya probably considers me controlled now.

"Noooooo." Kuro and Shiro say gloomily.

"Yesssssss." I say with a laugh. "Your mother and I want to spend some time together." They look at me and Izaya with puppy-dog eyes as they whine. "_Alone_." I enunciate. They groan and sigh.

"We promise to pick you up early in the morning." Izaya adds as he gets up. I nod before getting up too. They mumble something and then follow us back to their "favorite" place.

Thankfully, Shinra and Celty were already ready for us to come back. They made sure everything was set such as the dinner plans, playtime schedule, and their bed was made in the guest bedroom, which was once Celty's bedroom, but you can probably guess where she sleeps now.

[Why the long faces?] Celty asks with her PDA. The kids kick their feet solemnly before clinging onto Celty's legs. Celty seems surprised by the sudden action, but then kneels down and hugs the boys. She pats their heads and then grabs two things from a bag on the floor. She hands one to each of them and (if she had a head) smiles.

"Well, take good care them for us, please." Izaya says happily as he kneels down and gives them both a hug. I do the same and then ruffle their hair to try to cheer them up, but they just sighed and fixed their hair at the same time. We leave the two there, hoping that they won't cause any trouble, but they always seem to surprise us. They've never slept over anyone's house before so they're probably uneasy about the idea, but it's the only way we could think of to have some alone time together.

And alone time we shall have.

* * *

A/N: Yesssss! It's done! Anyway, it might be a week before the next update, maybe less if I'm in the mood. Thanks for reading and please review so I can get motivated to update sooner. Yell at me if you have to (in a PM). PM's usually motivate me too.


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